The Heart of the Matter
by geekdad
Summary: As the relationship between Wally and Artemis ends, both heroes move forward with their lives as new feelings are explored. All the while Vandal Savage has put a dangerous plan into play, and the team with their new leader must join forces with the Justice League to stop him before millions of lives and one of their own pay the ultimate cost.
1. Prolouge

Author's Note. This is my third young justice story. If you get a chance and are interested, check out "The Long Road to Redemption" and "To Take a Life". I'm a sucker for character development and detail, as well as Spitfire. Hope you enjoy. This will be multi-chapter and I will try to keep my updates pretty regular. Read and Review if you would. Thanks.

Prologue

They both knew the end was near.

The signs we obvious to them, but they tried to hide it from each other.

The letter came in December.

Their relationship ended January 1. Three years to the day that they first kissed.

He wanted to be in motion.

She wanted to stay still.

He was ready to leave the nest.

She had finally made it her home.

He wanted her to join him.

She wanted him to stay.

She turned her heartbreak into cruel venom directed only at him

He took her anger and remained silent.

He knew where it came from, the reason. He tried to be apathetic, but it hurt deeply. A hurt he would never allow her to see.

They both counted down the days to the end.


	2. Command Structure

_Author's note. Here we go again. I have been reading some great stories here lately, I hope mine can keep up. R & R and I hope you enjoy._

Command Structure

The mission had not gone well. A simple surveillance operation had quickly evolved into a firefight. The mission parameters and intel provided by the Batman had been inaccurate and incomplete, and because of that the team was unprepared. Artemis had only heard over the mind link that Robin was hurt, she didn't know how severely. Once he was knocked unconscious, his connection to Megan was gone, and the team was without their leader.

Artemis waited for someone to step up. The next logical choice would have been Kaldur given his previous experience leading operations, but he was preoccupied in battle and had not been able to issue a strategy.

Conner angrily interjected. "What are we doing? Do we go after the boss or what? We're just screwing around here. I think I can still reach him in this mess."

At the moment a plasma burst struck Superboy directly in his chest knocking hard into the dirt.

Artemis waited as long as she could until finally taking command and ordering a withdrawal. Their cover was blown and their injuries were mounting fast.

"No abandon the mission. Bioship. Now!" she commanded as the team gathered the injured and made their way. She threw herself directly into harm's way to enable her teammates to escape, all the while taking fire and trying to provide distraction and cover so her teammates could board. The Bioship's engines fired to life as Megan screamed for Artemis to board.

The archer was willing to stay behind to give her teammates the chance to escape, but when a lull in the attack temporally presented itself, she took advantage of it and ran to the ship.

Once aboard Megan moved the ship out of range of any potential enemy fire, but luckily there wasn't any.

Kid Flash took the injured Robin back into the medical pod aboard the ship and began treatment on his injuries.

Kaldur had radioed ahead to the cave to expect casualties and prep the medical bay.

Once the ship landed, Batman and Green Arrow were already waiting. Kid Flash and Kaldur carried Robin out gingerly as the rest of the team walked out under their own power. Battered and bruised.

Batman angrily asked. "Who ordered the withdrawal? The target was not secured."

The team remained silent waiting for someone to speak up. Uncomfortable glances were exchanged all around until finally Artemis stepped up visibly frustrated with her team and their silence.

"Oh for Christ sakes. I ordered it. We were taking damage. Robin was down, Conner was hurt, and our cover was blown."

"You had access to their commander. The mission should have changed from surveillance to capture. You are trained for this and you let a high priority target escape."

The team slowly moved away as Batman and Artemis continued their heated exchange. She glanced at Wally who had quietly stepped away from her too, and she felt hurt. The teen speedster always had her back and supported her among their teammates, but with the League involved at this point he shrank away from the exchange. They all did.

Finally Artemis had had enough.

"It was a low priority mission and the target was not some high profile crime boss. What you call high priority, was only some glorified middle man, and it was not worth the risk of any more injuries to capture this guy."

"The mission parameters were clear," Batman coldly responded.

Artemis greeted the coldness with fire of her own.

"Yes they were clear, but things change out in the field. You know that. You have drilled us on that. I made a judgment call. No one else was sure as hell going to. If you don't like it, or if you think I screwed up the operation fine, but I was looking out for the safety of my teammates and I would it again the exact same damn way."

Artemis was fired up at this point. She was always combustible, but Batman had directly challenged her choices made under fire. In her opinion she did the right thing potentially sacrificing herself for her teammates safety, and she wasn't about to be dressed down by an individual, even as intimidating as Batman, when he was not in her position to make the choice.

She could feel the heat on her face when she looked over at her boyfriend who he had his eyes focused straight down at the floor, trying to hide his smile. Before she could react, Robin stood straight up from his hunched over injured stance he had been in seconds before.

Batman smiled at her.

"Congratulations. You passed the test."

Artemis's mind was inundated with waves on confusion.

"Test? This was a test?"

"Yes. It was an exercise to determine command decisions in the heat of battle. Conner might have been able to capture the target, but you made the call to withdrawal, and in my opinion was the right one."

"You all knew this. You guys suck so bad….."

"Ahem." The Dark Knight interrupted. "The purpose of this exercise was to determine if you had the abilities needed to be assigned new responsibilities. It has been discussed by your team and the League and we think it's time for you to accept the new assignment as team leader."

Artemis was stunned. "Excuse me?"

Robin was next to speak.

"Batman wants me to supervise the indoctrination of the new recruits, and that would mean taking me out of the field for a while. So we need a new mission leader, and it's you. If you'll take it?"

The entire team presented her with smiles and applause as Wally made it over to her.

"This is what you're supposed to do. No one thinks on their feet as well as you do. You know you want this. What do you say?"

She smiled and grabbed her boyfriend and squeezed him as tight as she could as her friends applauded her

Robin smiled. "We'll take that as a yes."

Artemis was glowing with pride as she whispered into Wally's ear. You knew didn't you? You're going to have to be punished for this you know?" and lightly bit his ear, before breaking apart to great her celebrating teammates.

Batman came and shook her hand. "Congratulations."

Green Arrow hugged his protégé. "Way to go kid. We're all proud of you."

Artemis had spent her most of her life trying to make amends for the life her father had forced her into, and now the circle was complete. She was surrounded by a great group of friends that respected and cared for her, and she was in a loving relationship with the fastest teen alive. She would take on this new responsibility with pride and she would not let these people down. This was going to be a day she would never forget. She had a lot of work ahead of her, but right now it was time to celebrate.

Wally West sat silently in his room staring at the unopened envelope. Time sometimes had no meaning for him and he could have been looking at it for seconds or minutes. He didn't have to open it in reality; he already knew its contents.

He heard the keypad lock on the outside of his door being accessed and quickly put the letter on his desk under his homework as Artemis burst in jumping from the door onto the bed, on top of her speedster. She was giddy, exited. Artemis Crock was one of the coolest and collected individuals most people would ever encounter. Cocky, self-assured, and even cold when necessary, but when she was around Wally West that façade disappeared and she allowed herself to be a teenage girl, and at this moment a uncontrollably happy one.

She straddled Wally covering him in kisses, her mind and he mouth going a hundred miles a minute. Luckily dating a master of speed, Wally could easily keep up.

"How in the hell did you keep this from me? You know you have a crappy poker face," she smiled still covering his cheek and neck with kisses.

"This face?" he smiled. "I'm not even allowed in the state of Nevada I'm so good."

He put his hands around her face and slowed her down to focus on him. He kissed her sweetly and smiled.

"You were the only choice. Everyone knew it. The League, us, I mean everybody."

He once again kissed her and said, "I am so proud of you, you're going to do great."

A small tear formed in her eye as she looked down at the red head.

"I love you Wally."

"I love you too babe."

She leaned down and nibbled on his ear and whispered. "Just remember I am now the boss in the bedroom and the boardroom."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," as Wally swiftly rolled on top of the archer as her hands wrapped around his hips and drew him into her. Wally glanced back before the action began and prayed Artemis had locked the door.

.


	3. Shock and Awe

Shock and Awe

It didn't take long for the euphoria of Artemis's promotion to wear off once she was faced with all the new responsibilities her title carried. There was the coordination with the League for training, the endless reading of briefs and reports from the Justice League, CIA, Homeland Security, and even Interpol. Any agency tracking major criminal activity would have to be disseminated and placed on a priority list. No wonder Robin had given this up so easily she thought to herself. Luckily Batman provided a very scaled down and thorough evaluation of all the reports into one document. After a while Artemis adjusted to this and soon found herself able to skim through them for the important parts her team needed to know.

Added to the new workload of course was the hectic schedule of Gotham Academy academics and extra- curriculars, and of course taking care of her mother. The one thing that she did not feel pressure pushing against her was from her boyfriend. Wally had been extremely supportive and had given her plenty of space to absorb and adjust to all her new responsibilities, without making her feeling guilty for the time it took away from them. She couldn't ask for a better boyfriend, but something deep down troubled her. Something she could not put her finger on yet. Honestly she did not have the time to inquire, but there was something going on with her speedster that he wasn't sharing.

The weekend finally arrived and the team had received notice that all training and strategy sessions had been cancelled and they were given mandatory time off, and that included their leader as well. Plans were quickly made, and the cave was soon empty accept for a certain archer and speedster who had not committed to the many invitations extended to them. This was their time to be together, just the two of them.

After a dinner of the best pizza place in Rhode Island (in Wally's opinion) the two retired to the beach surrounding Mt. Justice and enjoyed lying on a blanket and watching the ocean. On most occasions Wally would turn any time under the stars as an opportunity to lecture Artemis on one of his favorite subjects, astronomy. She would always kindly indulge him until the point where she felt she had learned enough and stopped the speedster cold by the locking of their lips. Neither one minded the quick change of subject, but tonight the conversation focused solely on them.

Snuggled up next to the warmest teen alive Artemis decided to ask Wally a question that had lightly gnawed at her since they met.

"Wally can I ask you something personal without you thinking I am being a complete bitch?"

"Fire away beautiful."

Artemis hesitated, looking for the best phrasing she could muster. "Why did you never try to be team leader? I mean you are the smartest guy on the team hands down, you have been at this gig as long as Robin has, why not take a shot at the center seat?"

Wally paused, deep in thought and Artemis became nervous she might have hit upon a sore subject. Maybe Wally had wanted the position all along and was playing the role of supportive boyfriend, when deep down he was hurt or resentful.

Finally he spoke with a sincere tone she recognized he only used for her.

"I used to ask myself that a lot. I mean who wouldn't want to be the captain of the Enterprise right? But the honest answer is I feel more comfortable in a supporting role. Some people aren't cut out for the big chair, and I…."

He struggled with his words as Artemis took his hand to encourage him

"I could never order my friends into a situation where they could be hurt or even killed. I know the risks that come with the mask and I accept them, but only when it comes to me. Don't get me wrong, I don't have some weird death wish thing, I just couldn't order someone to do something that I wasn't willing to do myself. I don't mean this to be a downer, it's just how I feel. Sorry

"You have nothing to be sorry for Wally, it's really kind of …sweet."

"Don't tell anybody ok, I have a rep to maintain."

He quickly covered his arm for the shot from Artemis that usually followed one of his smartass statements, but instead she just laid back down, her head on his chest again, looking to the stars.

"I've got one for you now," Wally asked.

"Ok." she replied

"What do you see in your future? What do you want to do with your life besides the hero gig?"

Artemis carefully considered the question.

"I don't know. I honestly don't know. My family did such a great job of screwing up my childhood, I never thought I would ever find myself in a position like this. You know a real chance to start my life over and do things the right way. I just want to do something good for this world, make a difference, you know. Isn't that why you do it?

"Yeah. It's just….this can't be the only thing you want to do? The mask can't last forever right? What about college?"

"I'm not going to college Wally."

"What?" her answer shocking him. "Why not? You have great grades, you go to one of the best private schools on the East coast. I know you could have some scholarships available. Why wouldn't you want to?"

"There's a lot of reasons Wally. One…I still have to take care of my mom. Two….I just received this promotion , you know, the one you wanted me to take by the way, and that's going to keep me pretty busy, and three ….I'm happy doing what I'm doing. Not everyone loves school as much as you ya know. I'm not saying I never want to go to college, I'm just not ready to now. What about you?"

Artemis already knew the answer. She figured this might have been the reason for distance she had been feeling from her speedster lately.

Wally ran his hands through his hair as he did when he was uncomfortable.

"I'm planning on going, I just don't know where yet. "

"I hope your still thinking about the Northeast like we talked about?" she added.

"Yeah," he answered uncomfortably. "You know I'm not giving up the hero gig right? I just want to be something more. I don't mean that as an insult ok?"

"My Uncle Barry went to school and has a career outside of the League, same with the Atom, Superman, a bunch of them. There are just a lot of the hero types that were left a ton of money and lots of time on their hands. Please don't think I'm judging them, hell Dick's my best friend. I know how much he's suffered and I would never want to trade places with him, but still there has to be some relief knowing you don't have to worry about your future outside of the hero biz."

He continued. "Things are really tight at home right now, and my parents are not getting along anyway. I can't be a burden on them much longer, so having some sort of career is important to me."

Artemis reached for his hand and held it tight. "I know. I was just hoping…that maybe you would take a year off with me."

"I wish I could babe."

"Well at least you'll be close enough that I can still boss you around. Send us on dangerous missions. Like you and I going undercover in Paris looking for….oh who the hell cares, we would be in Paris, together," she smiled. "You are going to stay near me I hope?"

"I want to."

"Good." Artemis rolled over and straddled her boyfriend. "Now that our future is all settled, let's deal with the present. "

Wally wrapped his arms around her, and for the umpteenth time they made out under the stars.

Artemis woke up in her room the next morning and her bed was empty. A note from Wally read that he had run home to get some clothes and a bathing suit, and hoped they could hang out at the beach together. They idea of a private beach with her boyfriend sent devilish thoughts through her mind as an evil grin crossed her lips. This was shaping up to be the weekend she had wanted for so long. Just the two of them. No school work, no team work, just them.

Artemis got up from the bed and made her way into the kitchen and found fresh coffee waiting for her that Wally had made before he left. She smiled and filled the mug Wally had left out for her, the one with the signature Flash insignia on it. She chuckled inside. How much memorabilia does this boy have she wondered. She carried her drink and mindlessly wandered the cave waiting for her boyfriend's return.

She strolled down to Wally's room and discovered the door was locked, not a problem for someone who already knew the access code, but still odd since they were the only two in the cave.

She opened the door and rolled her eyes at the mess Wally kept his room. She was the total opposite of him regarding organization, but realized even the smartest people still had their vices.

She sat at his desk looking at the mountain of books lying on it. Trigonometry, Advanced Physics, AP English, Advanced Chemistry.

How in the hell does he stay on top of all this, and play hero and boyfriend at the same time she wondered.

She noticed an SAT prep guide in the middle of the stack of books and pulled it out, as an envelope fell to the floor. She reached down and picked it up and was about to place it back within the stack when she noticed who it was from.

Stanford University Admission Office.

Artemis felt the blood rush out of her face as she held it to her eyes. A myriad of emotions ran through her mind and distracted her, and when she looked back at the envelope it was open. She had torn it and removed the contents without even thinking. She couldn't believe she had done that, but soon decided she was in too deep now, and unfolded the paper and read it.

_Congratulations Wallace West,_

_We at Stanford are proud to announce your early admission has been accepted. After your SAT scores are received, your full scholarship and a grant from the Wayne Foundation await. You will be attending the freshmen orientation August 25__th__ and freshman registration will take place Friday August 31__st__, Classes will begin September 5__th__. We look forward to your arrival and once again congratulations. Welcome to Stanford University._

Artemis felt like someone had just knocked the wind out of her. She was in total shock. She read the letter a second time to make sure she hadn't misunderstood it.

Hurt and anger filled her heart, and she was having trouble determining which one was stronger. At that exact moment she heard the chiming of a code being entered into the keypad, and in walked Wally with a huge hamper of clothes and two bags from McDonalds on the top of them. He immediately read and understood the situation.

"Aww shit" was the only thing he could say.


	4. Fractured

Fractured

Artemis Crock does not come with a handbook. Everything you learn about her come on the fly. Wally realized this the first day they met. When she argues and bickers with you, she either likes or tolerates you. If she is warm and friendly, she loves you. When she is cold and silent it probably means she doesn't care about you. Wally waited for an eternity (speedster time) to determine who he was about to deal with.

"How could you do this?" Artemis asked angrily.

"Artemis I need you to calm down and let me explain."

"I am calm. You don't want to see me when I'm not."

Wally agreed. "You're right I don't. Look I know what you're thinking, but just give me a chance to explain ok?

"Fine." She growled

Wally held his breath and looked for the courage to begin. He knew this was going to hurt her, but hoped she would see it from his perspective.

"Well?"…she demanded.

"I really wanted to find a school up here. I looked and looked, but none of them offered what Stanford did. It has one of the best engineering and science programs in the country. Then when I saw the scholarships available, I had to apply. Artemis I got a full ride. Do you know what that means to my family? Things are really tight at home, my parents are super stressed and are biting each other's heads off every other day. This was too good an opportunity not to jump on it."

"When were you going to tell me?"

"I have been trying to talk to you about it for weeks, but with school, the missions, your promotion, it just never felt right."

"Felt right? Felt right? That's your excuse?"

"Artemis please calm down. I know you're going to get even more pissed when I say this, but I did this for us?

"Really?" she said sarcastically.

"I was hoping that…I was hoping you'd come with me? Go to school with me. Don't you ever just want to feel normal sometimes? Like a teenager, not superhero. Don't you sometimes feel like we're missing out? I have been thinking about this for a long time. Remember I have been doing this since I was thirteen. You've been doing it even longer. Haven't you wondered what else is out there?"

"Wally I know what's out there. I have been dragged around this world from one side to the other. I finally have a place that feels like a real home and now you decide it's time for us to go? You don't make decisions like that for me!"

"It's not just that. I just want to be something else besides Kid Flash. I want to do something that makes a difference without having to put on a mask. With a degree form a place like this, we wouldn't have to worry about scrimping by all the time. We could finally take care of your mom."

"Finally? You don't think I can do it without your high and mighty help" she yelled angrily. "My mom and I have been doing just fine before the all-important Kid Flash came in to rescue us."

"No I don't mean it like that. I just see how hard you have to work. Part time jobs, full time hero and school. If I got a good job, maybe…you wouldn't have to work so hard. Maybe we could give your mom a better life.

Artemis felt her blood pressure skyrocketing.

"First my mom doesn't need you taking care of her. Second I didn't ask for your help. I have never complained once about my mom, so I don't know what the hell gives you the right to judge me or my mom's life, and third we don't need your pity."

Artemis continued her rant unabated. "My god Wally we are seniors. With all this we shit you keep mentioning, were you planning on us getting married too? Have you just decided everything for us? I'm not getting married to you or anyone. I've seen first-hand what a joke marriage is. Why are you trying to royally screw up a good thing?"

Wally knew this was going south rapidly. Even for the fastest teen alive, he was not keeping up.

"It's not pity damnit, it's called caring. And now suddenly not only do you not want to go to college, but you never want to get married either? God Artemis you're stuck and you don't even know it. You're frozen in this junior hero clubhouse and you can't see how much else is out there."

They both hadn't realized how loud they had gotten with each other until that point, the days of the constant bickering and insults long past. They just looked at each other with hurt in their eyes.

"Let's not do this now" Wally pleaded.

"No problem," Artemis fumed.

As she walked past him leaving his room, Wally gently grabbed her arm and pulled her to him.

"Look I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. Were stronger than this ok? With Zeta travel we're always just a tube ride away. Distance doesn't have to be that big a deal."

"Wally you'll be across the country," she looked down at the ground avoiding his gaze. "I've been in a long distance relationship before. They never work."

Shock took Wally's face. "You're not seriously thinking about breaking up are you?"

"I don't know what I'm thinking right now, but I know I need some time. Maybe we should slow things down some. Take a break for a while."

The shock was replaced by hurt. Wally had thought his decision was going to be an important first step for them, for their future. He knew he had gone about it the wrong way, but he had the best of intentions. Long term intentions.

Artemis looked at the boy she loved and felt betrayal and anger. She was schooled long ago by her sociopath father about the risks of making yourself vulnerable, allowing someone inside your heart. She broke that rule with Wally, and up until today had never regretted a second of it.

A thousand thoughts filled the speedsters mind. More arguments, more ways to persuade her, more hopes she would see his side. In the end all he could verbalize was one word.

"Fine."

As Artemis walked out of the room Wally felt like part of his heart walked out with her. He hoped time and some cooling off would do its magic and they could sit down rationally and figure out how they could fix what had been broken. Figure out a plan for continuing the relationship they both held so dear. He would not accept that this could be the end. They were bigger than that, stronger than that. They had been through life and death together. There was no way going off to college was going to end them. Absolutely no way.

Time did not soothe the pain. There were more and more weekends spent apart, more training and missions where Artemis would pair herself with other team members. A pattern was forming of Kid Flash being left out of operations altogether. With the arrival of Impulse, two speedsters were not needed, and Wally became the default choice to stay behind.

The coldness emanating from Artemis was becoming unbearable. Wally had tried talking to her on several occasions and she would politely but firmly put him off. Finally he had had enough.

"We need to talk." Wally interrupted as Artemis and Zatanna sat at the kitchen eating.

"I'm kind of busy KF if you hadn't noticed. Maybe later."

What the speedster did notice was she was not using his name anymore. Just another arrow the archer carried.

"Not later. Now!"

Zatanna felt incredibly uncomfortable sitting in the middle of this encounter.

"Guys I'm going to head outside for a while. Artemis we'll go into town later ok," she politely interceded before leaving the couple alone.

"What the hell Baywatch. That was dickish what you just did!"

"Oh and avoiding me and leaving me out of missions has just been incredibly mature. I know what you're doing and why. We do don't have to do this."

"There is no we West, just you and I. Separate. I don't know why you're bitching. I thought you wanted more time for your studies," she said once again adopting the sarcastic tone she was famous for.

"You don't really want this anymore do you?" Wally asked angrily.

"I guess not," she said firmly

They both stood there staring at each other. Playing a mental game of chicken to see who would flinch first. Wally did.

"I've got to go study. Thanks for letting me know where I stand."

"My pleasure," as Artemis turned quick on her heels and left the kitchen looking for Zatanna.

As Spring finally made its way to the Northeast, the pattern of avoidance was now easily noticed buy their teammates. Even the new recruits could feel the tension. No one would take sides, but everyone could see where the train was heading. Wally began skipping training sessions, holed up in his room cramming for his SAT's, while Artemis used his absence as a way to belittle him in front the freshmen team members.

"This kind of behavior and lack of commitment is the best way to find yourself benched for missions," she would state at training's end.

Kaldur, Robin, and Megan all took turns trying to mediate between the two, pointing out how their dynamic was hurting the team. Artemis said it was a non-issue, while Wally was usually too busy to discuss it.

The West household was reaching a boiling point between the two parents, and Wally was forced to spend more and more time at the cave to find the peace to study. He wasn't being used for missions anyway so it seemed like the perfect spot.

The night before the SAT's, Wally sat on the coach in the media room exhausted. He hadn't had a decent night's sleep in weeks. Stress, studies, and Artemis had finally worn him down. It was 10.00 p.m. and he needed to crash soon to be up in time to get to Central City University to take his tests. He sat down on the couch with a sandwich and turned on the TV for a needed distraction. A Star Trek marathon was showing on AMC and a few minutes of Kirk and Spock wouldn't kill anyone. His clock was set in his room and he would have plenty of sleep before morning. The test wasn't till 9:00 am.

Artemis slammed the refrigerator door and startled the speedster awoke on the coach.

"Sorry," she said pleasantly, as Wally sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"What time is it?" he asked. Without natural lighting the cave always seemed in perpetual evening.

"8:50," she said cheerfully. "Don't you have some sort of test today?"

Wally panicked. He had passed out on the coach and never made it to his room. He frantically tried to piece together a plan.

He jumped to his feet and before he could explode into motion he looked at Artemis as she smiled back.

"You knew didn't you? You knew how important today was and you let me sleep."

"I didn't let you do anything Baywatch. Your schedule is not my problem."

That was the moment. That was the moment they both knew it was over.

"Thanks," Wally said coldly and sped off out of the room.

The smile on Artemis's face disappeared for a moment. They had not been a couple for weeks now, but today was last part of the play. She knew he was out of her heart. Anger and resentment had taken the place of love once inside. She didn't feel bad. She didn't feel guilty. He had brought this on himself.

She poured sweetener into her coffee as she heard the Zeta tubes being activated in the background. She opened her PDA and began planning the training schedule for the day.

_Author's Note._

_This was a hard chapter to write. It's hard to break apart a couple as great as this, and I'm not sure I did it very well. As usual the story is building to something, but sometimes the chapters aren't what you were trying to bring across. Bear with me. As always R and R. I would truly appreciate your thoughts on this part. Thanks and enjoy. _


	5. The Last Act

_Author's Note. I love angst, but damn I may have overdone it. As always I'm building to something, so don't give up on it yet. I would really appreciate your reviews. I have several chapters ready to. If I get enough I will update before the end of the week. Thanks and I hope you enjoy despite the dark direction we are heading_

The Last Act

Wally literally burst in the door covered in sweat, stressed out of his mind. The regulations regarding SAT testing was very straight forward, but something about the young redhead and the panic on his face caused the instructor to take pity on him. Wally hit the desk and took a deep breath to clear his thoughts and dove in head first. This was not the way he had imagined his last step towards college starting.

Artemis on the other hand was taking to leading the team just as she had dreamed. She continued to make good grades, but most of her energy went into her team. Relationships were the last thing on her mind, but she didn't mind the attention she was receiving from the boys at the Academy. A one Bradley Greenwood topped that list. The Greenwood family came from the same old money and pedigree as the Wayne's. Bradley and Artemis had been friendly since she first arrived. He was more than aware she had been in a relationship and was always respectful of it. A state champion fencer, Bradley had every right to be an arrogant rich prick, on an occasion he lived up to it. Artemis and he had always felt the mutual attraction, but there was no way she should ever be in a relationship with him, but that didn't mean she couldn't have some fun.

As a team, they had been performing remarkably well while easing in the new recruits. Cassie aka Wondergirl had been a welcome addition for some extra muscle and power to ease the burden off of Conner. Batgirl, Lagoon Boy, and Beast Boy had really proved their worth in limited work. Everyone got along well, but there was an unspoken separation between the old and new squads, friendly but respectful. Robin had privately taken the senior members aside and informed them of the training of the new Robin. When Batman was satisfied with his training, he would be joining the squad and Dick Grayson would need a new alter ego, but that was still months away. Bart Allen had proved particularly useful to Artemis. He was faster than their resident speedster and had less baggage. Bart gladly accepted the opportunities provided, but remained fiercely loyal to his cousin Wally. That's just what Flashes do. Family first. There was never any resentment between the two speedsters, and even as Wally gradually withdrew from the team, Bart and Dick still remained his closest confidants.

Prom season arrived and Megan for one was thrilled. She had always enjoyed the social event, and this was going to be her last. Even Conner begrudgingly admitted he was looking forward to it. Everyone danced around the elephant in the room until Artemis announced she was going to Gotham's. It wasn't hard to figure out who her date would be. She spoke about Bradley's hotness constantly just to get under her ex's skin, but Wally never bit.

Wally ended up attending Keystone's with a group of friends that were affectionately known as the geek squad. While Artemis crowed about the dress Bradley had bought for her, Wally wore his dad's old tux to be retro ironic. Jenny Thompson had been one of Wally's closest friends since junior high and the two had fun pretending to be couple. When all was said and done, the team's high school seniors enjoyed their last proms. Facebook accounts were updated and pictures shared. All except Wally's. He had stumbled on Artemis's and saw how beautiful and happy she looked and lost the urge.

It was a rare occasion when Roy Harper would come to the cave, but always an enjoyable one for Wally, Dick, and Kaldur. Red Arrow being two years older than the oldest members only occasionally came to the cave for non-mission related activities. Roy spent the evening hanging with his oldest friends shooting the shit and sharing stories of his solo adventures. After a few hours Wally was the first to call it a night.

"West how many times do I make it out here? Come on hang for a little longer."

"No can do bro. My friends Einstein and Tesla await. Only so much of the Wall-man to go around."

"You are such a geek," the archer smiled. "You know that right?"

"Yep. Can't fight who you are. Take care Roy. Give me more than two hours' notice next time and I will have my people clear my schedule."

Roy rolled his eyes and the speedster grinned and vanished.

"Yeah I better hit it too. Batman will have my hide if I oversleep tomorrow. Hitting the watchtower at 6:00 am for a recruiting briefing."

The rest of his friends groaned in jealously as Robin let off his trademark cackle and disappeared into the dark.

With Wally and Dick out of earshot, Roy took the opportunity to ask one of his oldest friends about another.

"How is he really doing?" Arrow asked, his eyes gesturing towards the general direction the jovial speedster had headed.

"Not good I'm afraid. She hardly uses him for missions anymore, and his training and commitment have suffered," Kaldur responded.

Roy let out a frustrated sigh. "I told him at least fifty times not to date within the team. Rob too. Neither one of them ever listen."

"It's hard when you become so familiar with people who constantly watch out for your best interests. Sometimes it just becomes inevitable."

"You haven't seemed to have that problem."

Kaldur frowned. "The one I love is far away and with another. I don't have room in my heart for anyone else."

Finally Kaldur retreated to his room and Roy stood alone in the kitchen searching the fridge before heading out, or so he thought.

"You sure are a popular guy if your sheer presence puts everyone to sleep."

"How long have you been skulking back there?" he asked good naturedly.

"Not long. My schedule has been a little off lately. About to hit the gym. You?"

Arrow continued searching for food to no avail. "Heading out I guess. Everyone's crashed and your fridge sucks."

"Come work out with if you're not too tired gramps. An old man like you could use the exercise."

Arrow smiled. "Sure why not. I can see how poorly the league has been training you guys."

"I do most of the training now," she added.

"I feel sorry for this team," he laughed.

Roy and Artemis's skill with the bow was unmatched. Eventually one day they would even be better than their mentor, and that day was fast approaching. They could duel each other for hours and face stalemate after stalemate, but hand to hand combat was a better test for both of them. They both trained religiously and treated their bodies like shrines. Combat was the ultimate expression of their commitment. Regardless of their shooting prowess, eventually bows break and arrows are spent. There would be times it would come down to who wanted it the most.

They both made their way into the Cave's new training facility. With the team's numbers growing, and the advancement of better holographic technology, the new training room was better suited for tactical battle with more realistic simulations. That and Artemis wanted to show it off a bit, she had been instrumental in having the League finally share some of their more cutting edge tech.

Roy grumbled. "I like the old room better."

"We still use it, it's actually better for one on one, but wait to you see what this place can do."

Artemis plugged in her key code in and different holographic landscapes burst into life. Everything from Championship Boxing Rings in Vegas to MMA cages. Red Arrow could not help but be impressed. Artemis finally settled on classic Japanese dojo.

"Ready?" she smiled.

Arrow returned her smile and nodded.

Both warriors were trained in so many fighting styles, it was difficult to see where one form ended and the other began. They danced around the arena landing blows and dodging others. Roy was impressed with how talented Artemis had become. She was no longer the scrawny fifteen year old Oliver had shown mercy on. It had taken many years for Roy to finally accept her presence, and even more to appreciate how talented and committed to her team she had become. Right now the only thing he could focus on was not getting his ass kicked.

Wally tossed and turned in his bed. He had read his science journals until his eyes had become heavy, but sleep still had not arrived. He sat up and pondered what to do. He wasn't in the mood for video games, his most worthy opponent had left for the Batcave hours ago. He wasn't particularly hungry which puzzled the speedster. Realizing he was more awake that asleep, he decided maybe a light work out and shower might settle him. He got dressed and headed to the gym.

Artemis and Roy were drenched in sweat. They were evenly matched. Artemis realized she was wearing down. Every style she had thrown at Roy, he had countered. She could see him breathing heavy and knew she was not alone in the fatigue factor. She decided maybe an unorthodox approach might be in order. She came it him in a stereotypical Malaysian Silat Melayu style, but quickly morphed into judo, and finally a little WWF just for good measure. Roy had trouble countering what she had thrown at him, and by the time he was in the grasp of a perfectly executed Judo throw with an elbow drop, he was done. Artemis straddled him both smiling thankful that the match was over.

"Nice job, "Roy said begrudgingly, breathing heavily. "You can get off me now."

"I'm catching my breath, don't' get excited. I think I might have pulled something. Give me a sec."

That was the moment Wally walked in. Between the Japanese simulation, not expecting the facility to be in use, and one of his best friends and ex-girlfriend lying on top of each other, Wally couldn't help but stare confusingly at the situation.

"Sorry I didn't know anyone was using the room," Wally painfully stated.

Artemis glanced at the speedster and smiled and evil grin, and before he could leave or Roy could react, she planted a hot wet kiss on her fellow archer's lips.

Wally stood there staring, and with a controlled expression of anger on his face, he silently left the room

Roy pushed Artemis off forcefully. "What the hell are you doing? What was that shit?"

Artemis just laughed. "I was just kidding Red, Jesus. It was a joke. Don't have a damn embolism over it."

Roy got to his feet looking down with disgust at Artemis.

"You did that because he walked in here. You did that just to be a bitch to him." His hands balled up in fists.

"God Damnit!"he yelled out in frustration. "I told him dating you would be a mistake. I told him you were damaged goods, but he wouldn't listen. He said he saw the good in you. I'm glad someone did."

"Roy it was just a joke"

"Not to him it wasn't, and not to me either. God you Crock women are so fucked up. It's not enough to crush someone, you've got to torture them till the end don't you?"

Roy reached the door and gave Artemis the coldest stare she had ever received from him.

"Your dad would be so proud."

Roy didn't expect to catch up to Wally so quickly as the speedster made his way back to his room.

"Wally wait up. Wally!" he announced trying not to awake those living on that hallway.

Wally entered his room with the archer close on his heels.

"Look I don't know what you think you saw, but it's not what you think. She's like my damn sister."

Wally held up his hand interrupting the archer as Roy prepared for the verbal onslaught.

"Calm down Roy, I know what she's doing. I saw how surprised you were. You didn't do anything wrong. She's been pulling subtle shit like this for weeks. It's my own fault. I should have listened."

Roy was surprised at the calmness that his fiery tempered friend displayed. Wally tried not to show the hurt, but he had been hiding it for weeks and could barely keep it from the surface. Wally turned his back to his friend to hide the emotions that started to flow out of him.

"Look it's all good. I'm sorry you got put in that position. It sucks to be played. Believe me I know."

"You going to be ok? I'll kick her ass for this. Trust me."

"'ll be fine." Wally turned back to him extending his hand. "I'm probably going to crash now ok?"

Red Arrow pushed his hand away and embraced his friend. Roy Harper never showed his emotions to anyone. Anything he felt inside was not anyone's damn business. He was orphaned like so many of the hero types, and for the most part didn't need the comfort or caring of family. He was quintessential definition of loner. But Wally and Dick were the closest things to little brothers he had. He may screw with them, make fun of them, occasionally fight with them, but he loved them, and no one messed with his family.

"Wally this is going to pass."

"Yeah I know. It just sucks right now. Give me a heads up when you plan on making it out this way again ok?"

Roy nodded and left his friend in peace. Wally's head hit the pillow and he begged slumber to take him. He had never dreamed love could hurt so much. He wondered if he could do it all over again, would he have rethought his college plans, or ever kissing her. He pondered that for hours until he finally drifted off.

Artemis lay on the mat as the simulation finally timed out and reverted back to training room. _Your Father would be proud_ she kept thinking. She had not allowed herself to hurt. The Crock family motto was give better than you get. She was sickened by the idea of any likeness to her father being alive in her. She knew how she had treated Wally. She felt anger and betrayal when she saw him, but she also understood the pain she caused him. That sick twisted satisfaction is what her father had drilled into her helped overcome the shock and despair of seeing the death caused by her hand. One of strongest moments of pride her father had ever complimented Artemis was his approval at the pleasure she received when she ended a life. It was that satisfaction that had finally driven Paula to take her daughters and escape the monster. She hated him for what he had done to her, but maybe hated herself even more.

Wally had broken her heart. The only boy she had truly ever loved. The kind of love that scared the shit out of her. This was the exact reason she never let anyone in, and would never again. No matter how hard she tried to escape her father's shadow, the darkness from time to time still shaded her. She made a mistake starting a relationship with him, with anyone. No matter whoever it would be, she would always carry too much baggage, to many bodies, too much heartache caused by her actions years past.

Out of respect for all they had been to each other, she could at least be civil towards him. She still had a few months left to attempt it. It wasn't forgiveness, it was just decency.

The next morning she found Wally working out in the secondary training room. He had his back to the door, working on the heavy bag. He swung heavy at normal speed, a constant rhythm impacting the bag.

"You're dipping your shoulder," she announced.

"I know," he replied not turning to her and continuing his workout.

Silence reigned for moments until Artemis spoke. "About last night…"

"Not now," Wally coldly replied still not visually acknowledging her presence.

"I was screwing with you and I shouldn't have. Roy had nothing to do with it."

"Artemis who you train with and what you do with them is not my business…. or my concern."

"Listen jackass I came in here to apologize. Not fight."

"Good because right now wouldn't be a good time to mess with me."

He finally faced her, a cold gaze emanating from his face. "Just leave me alone ok?"

"You want to take it in the ring," she asked sarcastically.

"I don't think that would be a very good idea right now" he replied.

Artemis's intention was to not to exasperate the situation, but her strong suit was never backing down from a challenge or a threat.

"Get in the ring West. Show me something. Maybe you might find yourself put back onto active duty."

As soon as the words escaped her mouth, she cursed herself. She came in to bring a peace offering, and it had turned into a cage match. She would not accept that her father's DNA could dominate her like that, but there it was in all its glory.

"Artemis this may seem like some screwed up game to you, but if you put me in that ring you are going to wish you hadn't. I promise you."

"I doubt it West."

All her good intentions disappeared after that exchange. It concerned her that she was now in charge of protecting and guiding her team, all the while being victim to losing emotional control in a situation like this. She could have just walked, but her bitterness at his betrayal got the better of her.

"I'll keep it slow," he smirked

"If I was the slightest bit worried about your abilities I wouldn't have stepped in here. Trust me your cousin is a lot faster than you, and somehow my poor frail body manages. I don't give a shit what you do. I doubt anything you can do will be able to top Arrow last night."

Though she was trying to antagonize him, the Roy remark had not come out as it was intended, unfortunately for her that arrow did strike its intended target.

Wally struck her with savage ferocity. Any counter she attempted never had a chance. Blow after blow impacted her from all sides. She was dazed and his speed was blinding. She threw herself to her feet and attempted the leg sweep that always been his weakness. His body was making impossible starts and stops and she could never land anything she threw at him. Artemis was the most skilled fighter on team, outside of perhaps only Nightwing. This match was am attempt for the two of them to blow off steam, perhaps best case scenario even bury the hatchet, but it had quickly escalated into something dangerous. She didn't want to hurt the speedster, but she would if she absolutely had to.

"Stand still chicken shit, fight like man for once."

No sooner had the words left her mouth when a vicious blow came to the back of her head forcefully throwing her forward. In a blur, she felt her momentum slammed forward as she was flipped and landed hard on her back, head screaming in pain and the breath knocked completely out of her. Wally grabbed her by her collar lurching her forward as he was about to severely punish his defenseless victim.

He gently let go, easing her back to the mat and stood up. His face horrified by his actions. He looked down at the girl he loved and saw the blood trickling from her mouth, the same blood that was spattered across his knuckles. He tried to talk, tried to breathe. Nothing would come out. He felt like he was suffocating. Tears formed as his eyes unspokenly expressed his sorry to her. He turned and walked out if the room unable to speak and unbelieving what he had done.

Artemis tried to get to her feet, but vertigo kept her seated. Of all the emotions she had experienced with Wally, she had never felt one. Fear. She was scared of him. She never realized how powerful he could be, how dangerous his abilities could make him. Wally had always been extremely careful in any battle. She assumed it was his genuine good nature not to want to harm someone. True anger was just not part of his genetic makeup. He was one of the last of the nice guys. The man who seconds ago stood over her battered body was not the boy she once loved, it was the person she had turned him into.

Wally's epiphany came when he saw the joy in her eyes upon his oversleeping before his college entrance exams. Artemis 's came at the moment when she realized Wally hated her. For the first time since their break she cried. The hurt she had kept at bay for so long finally taking over her body and making its home inside her.


	6. Silent Goodbyes

_Authors Note. I'm trying to keep these chapters shorter, maybe so I can denote the passage of time a little easier. I'm still pretty new at it this, but I have really enjoyed writing these fan fics. It's been a great way to relive some stress and let out some creative juices (well hopefully anyway). If you have not had a chance to follow these author's please check out __**Black Licorice Addict, Sand Cursive, and bluepianos**__**. **__Links are on my favorite author's page. Their stories are freaking amazing, and if you're a Spitfire addict you will get lost in their detail and storytelling. They are as good if not better than any novel out there._

_That doesn't mean I want you to stop reading my stories. I have four more chapters ready, all I need is some reviews for motivation. I always appreciate and respect your critiques and impressions. So R & R and hopefully enjoy._

Silent Goodbyes

Happy Harbor graduation was a big event for such a small town. Even though finals were still a week away, every year the residents would throw a huge beachside bonfire and barbeque for its seniors and their friends. Bigger and brighter things awaited their graduates as some would go off to college, some to the military or fishing industries. Others would continue fighting for an elite covert team of gifted people right under the eyes of the town.

Though only a few team members actually went to the school, it was a long planned that the entire team would attend. Though not set out to be a couple function, most nights at the HHGE( Happy Harbor Graduation Extravaganza) ended that way. Of course Conner and Megan would be together along with Karen and Mal. Dick and Zatanna had planned to attend. Artemis had even asked Bradley, who thought it odd that a girl from Gotham would be attending a high school party two states away, but he eagerly said yes nonetheless. Even the junior members were planning to sneak in and mingle with the exception of Gar and Lagaan, who threatened to crash the bash 'Creature from the Black Lagoon style.'

Zatanna sat patiently in the cave as she eagerly awaited the arrival of her on again off again boyfriend from Gotham. Dick had called and told her he was on the way, but being involved with the boy wonder usually required a great deal of patience.

She glanced around as member after member left for the festivities. In truth she always did enjoy the solitude that their headquarters could sometimes provide. Once Dick arrived, the plan was to team up with Artemis and Bradley as the four of them would be outsiders at this expedition. She was sure she would eventually meet up with the rest of her team, but anytime with Mr. Grayson outside of the tights was always a reason to celebrate. Dick and Bradley were not exactly friends nor rivals. Just two of Gotham's social elite that ran in the same circles.

Her solace was interrupted as Wally walked out of Bart's room, the younger speedster looking particularly distraught carrying around the yellow garment.

"Wally….I don't want this."

"It would mean a lot to me Bart, and Barry."

Bart hugged his cousin in an emotional embrace. "I'm coming out there you know. A lot"

Wally smiled. "I'm counting on it. You better head now. Cassie and Jamie are waiting on you."

Bart hugged Wally once more and speed to his room and then out the cave exit within seconds.

It wasn't until Bart sped off that she realized it was Wally's uniform he had handed Impulse. With a little sorcery, she silently, but at a discreet distance, followed him through the cave, and down the hall to his room. The door was cracked and she waited for a few moments to hear some movement inside so she could enter. When the room remained silent, her patience ran thin and she gently pushed the door open calling his name. Zatanna looked around at the unadorned walls that surrounded her. Gone were the posters, pictures, and Flash memorabilia. The usually slovenly room was now immaculate. All that was left were two huge duffle bags sitting on the bed, and a document and envelope sitting on the empty desk. She picked it up to scan its contents. Moments later she began to choke up and sniffle as Wally entered the room carrying the toiletries he had recovered from the group locker rooms.

"Z what are you doing here," he said upbeat until he saw her holding the letter.

"Aww man! What is it about my room that makes everyone go through my stuff?"

"Wally this is beautiful. I've never read anything so touching"

A nanosecond later the letter was firmly in Wally's hands being shredded into pieces.

"It was stupid. I shouldn't have written it. It wouldn't make any difference anyway."

"Wally don't," but her words came too late.

"Don't tell her please Z? You know you shouldn't have read it. Will you do me this one favor please?" as her looked at her with painful eyes.

"I won't tell her, but you should."

Zatanna looked to the bags and then back to the red head. "You're leaving," she said sadly.

"My exams were last week. It's time. I told Dick already. We did the goodbye thing yesterday."

He put his arms around her and gave a loving embrace. Wally West hugs were always the best.

He broke the embrace and took her hands into his. "I'm really glad I got to know you. You've been a really good friend. I'm sorry you got stuck…..you know in the middle of the whole Artemis and me thing. She's lucky to have a friend like you."

"This isn't goodbye Wally's it's a "see you soon" thing ok. " She put her hands under his chin and lifted his gaze to hers. "Ok?"

He smiled. "Ok, Thanks." He kissed her cheek and grabbed his bags. "Watch out for Bart for me ok?"

"Done," she smiled, and he was gone.

Wally took one final look around the cave and plugged in the coordinates for home. After all the anger and hurt he had experienced over the last months, he didn't expect leaving would tug at him so much. There were a lot of great memories in this place, much more than any sad ones. Despite the fact she had read his letter, Zatanna still wanted to believe that he would return. She and Megan were always the upbeat positive ones of the group, but after Wally's last interaction with Artemis, he didn't feel like much of a hero anymore. Putting up the mask was supposed to be a temporary thing, and as he left the cave for the final time, he was wondering if deep down he still believed that.

"I guess you were wrong Mr. Nelson, "he said to himself sadly and stepped inside as the transport began.

In the distance she heard the Zeta tubes activate and wasn't sure if it was Wally leaving or Dick arriving. She left Wally's room and began her way down the hallway until suddenly turning back to his room.

She glanced at the shredded paper in the wastebasket

"_Rettel mrofer" _she chanted as the shreds of paper returned to their proper form. She placed the letter in the envelope and decided to hold on to it for safe keeping. "You never know when this might come in handy, "she smirked to herself.

At the beach the party was already in full swing. Dick and Zatanna finally made it out and caught up with Conner and Megan along with a handful of their friends they had met before. Having been at boarding school, Dick found it refreshing to be around normal teens without their elitism and trust funds. They all drank punch and made their way to the buffet table that the locals were manning. Z kept an eye out for Bradley and Artemis, finally eyeing the archer standing off from the crowd as the firelight danced on her back, watching the tide role in alone. Conner noticed her too, and the Kryptonian and the magician made their way to her.

"Honey you ok?" Z asked as Artemis slowly turned, bruises very prominent on her face despite her attempt to cover them.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I cancelled on Brad. Didn't feel like explaining these, "referring to the dark blemishes on her face.

"Where the hell is he?" Conner growled clenching his fists. "He and I are about to have a very long talk about this. A very long and painful…."

Artemis interrupted him.

"No you won't. I did this. I antagonized him. I bullied him into the ring. He told me several times to leave him alone and I wouldn't listen, just kept pushing him. I got what was coming to me."

"Still …there was no freaking reason for him to…."

"Conner," she said sweetly, showing a softer she rarely let escape, "I appreciate it. I really do. If I ever had a big brother I would want him to be just like you, but you can't blame anyone but me on this. Listen go back to the party. I'll be there in a few, I just need to work through some stuff. I can make it an order if you want" she smiled.

Both nodded and Z hugged her warmly, never once betraying the conversation with the speedster.

Artemis watched the waves hoping her mood would somehow improve. She realized there was no use, and instead of trying to fake enthusiasm, which was never her strong suit, she made her way back to the cave to get her things and head back to her mom's for the weekend.

She entered to hear both her green skinned teammates laughing hysterically watching reruns of the Three Stooges. Gar was way too young to have known them, and evidently Atlantis didn't have cable.

"You guys are idiots," she laughed watching them mimic the comedic violence they seemed to so thoroughly enjoy.

She made her way to her room, planning on quietly passing Wally's door trying to avoid him and any confrontation that it could lead to. She passed by softly noticing the door was left half open, but no sound emanating from inside. She paused in front of it cursing herself for not passing by and quietly knocked on his door. Despite her gentleness, the door slowly swung open revealing an empty room, completely devoid of anything that would indicate it was ever lived in. Artemis smiled sadly, sorting through the many memories this room held for the next few minutes. She shut the door and continued on to her room. It was finally over.


	7. Unplanned Maneuvers

_Author's note. Originally this was one long chapter, but I needed to break it up some, not wanting you to get too bored. As you read the last paragraph, I thought it would only piss you off to wait for the next so I published them both. Thanks for the reviews and kind words, but I can take a good scathing one too. Don't hold back, only makes me better. Like I have told you before, angst is my specialty, but it's usually worth it in the end. Pardon any typos , I always have to come back and fix them._

Unplanned Maneuvers

"Wow!' the star struck youth exclaimed.

"Yep, that's exactly what I said," Dick smiled.

Tim Drake didn't think he would be more impressed than he was with the Batcave, but soon realized his mistake. After spending months in the underground layer with the solemn and moody Dark Knight, this place offered something the Batman's headquarters could not. Teenagers.

"This place is really, really cool."

The young hero looked over at the other teens lounging around playing videogames, ransacking the kitchen and generally being normal kids with no adults to watch over them

"You're going to like it here I promise. You have a full time Zeta account now and you can come and go as you want. Artemis will send you the full meeting and training schedule in a few days."

"Guys this is Robin, yes I said Robin. Show him around and make him at home."

"No hazing or pranks or the next training session will be all weekend long," Artemis smiled.

"I think he can take care of himself," Dick chuckled. "He's going to fit in great."

Bart was the first to zoom over to the new recruit and make his acquaintance. Easily the most outgoing of the group, it wasn't long before Bart had introduced him to everybody, and Tim was handed a PS3 controller and jumped right into the game everyone was playing.

"So Nightwing," Artemis said exaggeratedly, stopping herself shaking her head. 'It's going to take a while to get used to that name.

"Not any more than Tigress," he quipped.

Both heroes' had spent the summer and early fall adopting new identities. As recent graduates and senior members, both felt a change was in order. All in all almost all original members, sans Conner, had changed or modified their uniforms, but no on as drastically as Nightwing and Tigress.

Decked in a black armored battle suit, the former Robin looked formidable, but the archer looked deadly.

A skin tight orange tan Kevlar covered material covered he muscular body, with hidden compartments housing her many armaments, her change had been the most drastic. Her mask very similar to the one Paula Crock wore as Huntress, an homage to mother.

"Well you ready to head up?" he asked.

"Yes," Artemis replied, trying desperately to hide her excitement. This would be her first 'official' visit to the Watchtower. Batman had recently recovered key information that needed to be shared with top level personnel only. Artemis now fit into that category.

Beaming aboard the Watchtower was exhilarating. The archer was in no hurry to leave her current role, but the idea of one day possibly being aboard this fortress as an official Leaguer sent adrenaline shooting through her. As the Zeta Tube announced her arrival, she was immediately standing face to face with some of the greatest heroes the Earth has ever known.

Batman in his normal outgoing and charming style welcomed them with a terse, " Come with me."

Nightwing and Tigress followed Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman into a private meeting room.

Batman, never one to waste time on pleasantries quickly started.

Recently the league acquired intel that Intergang has been moving illegally obtained experimental weapons technology files to a parent organization in the guise of legitimate business transactions.

"Highly classified, even we couldn't break the decryption" Superman interceded.

"We believe the parent organization referred to on the manifests recovered are The Light. Despite its rotating membership, Vandal Savage is the still the most visible member. We have no information regarding his current whereabouts, but any potential Intergang related missions assigned to any of our teams, a thorough interrogation will be needed. And I will be there to conduct them. Are we clear?"

"Your team…."

"The Titans," Artemis interrupted. The young heroes had all voted on an actual designation for their unique group. The name was suggested by Kaldur and Artemis, respectful nod to the great Atlantean myths and Greek god's Artemis was named after.

"The Titans", Batman continued, "will stay in constant contact with the league, and when any pertinent information is recovered, we will coordinate several joint missions to disrupt any further weapons movement or apprehension opportunities if Savage is located."

"Understood, "Nightwing replied, and they all stood up exchanging the pleasantries they skipped at the start, as Batman abruptly left per his usual MO.

Artemis and Dick spent several hours aboard absorbing the environment, still in awe of its construction. The base was once a decommissioned Green Lantern orbital headquarters, long abandoned and hauled into orbit by Hal Jordan and John Stewart as the new JL base of operations after Mt. Justice and still in use Hall Of Justice.

"You ready to go?" Nightwing asked.

"Yeah, go prep the tubes I will be right there," she replied staring out at the large viewport that beautifully observed the rotating blue marble below it. As she stood alone, she was quite aware of where she was standing. The exact same spot he held her in his arms before they kissed. It had been months and despite their angry and violent last encounter, she still thought about him from time to time and hoped he was well, and that his new life was everything he hoped for. As she made her way to the platform to join her teammate, a small part wondered if he ever thought of her.

Wally was spent, absolutely exhausted, and it felt wonderful. He sat in his bare bones apartment lounging on the coach for the first time all day. The way he had set his schedule for this semester was for heavy loads Monday through Wednesday with a break Thursday and a one class on Friday. It was Wednesday night and he had just finished his shift at the Physics Labs as well as the hardest part of his week. All first year students were required to do volunteer hours, and those hours were usually assigned to the Science and Research labs, those places being the equivalent to Mecca for Wally.

The move to the apartment was unexpected. It took Wally 5 months to adjust to dorm life, and two roommates later he had finally been paired up with someone as nerdy and smart as him. He and Patrick Madison were both Midwest boys and had bonded instantly, but when a overcrowding amendment hit the Dean of Students desk, any one receiving additional scholarship money was sent off campus to small privately owned apartments the university had connections to. The idea of living alone initially excited Wally, but once presented cramped quarters of his new living space; he wished he had stayed in the dorms. Wally had always been adaptable, living with powerhouse super teens made most situations boring in comparisons, and boring was just fine to Wally right now.

He liked Palo Alto, but he loved San Francisco. A very short thirty miles up the cost and he could find himself in one of the most exciting and diverse cities in America. He could lose himself for days with the all the city had to offer, the parks, the museums, the Redwoods, the sports teams, the culture, and of course the food. He could not forget the food. Superman had Kryptonite, and Wally had Chinese food. It was a weakness, and one he was more than willing to live with.

Earlier that morning, Wally had met two new classmates in his applied sciences class. Two pretty classmates in his applied sciences class. Two pretty female students who actually remembered his name and were friendly to him. That would have never happened at Keystone High. This was one of the things about college Wally had been hoping for. Not necessarily meeting the girls per se, but the ability to start over. Not be typecast in the role he played in high school.

While not particularly unpopular, nonetheless Wally found himself placed into the nerd population of his school. Actually not a bad place to be, but still slightly frustrating, as he watched the jocks and popular kids get all the girls and notoriety. If anyone could have guessed of the double life Wally West carried around, he knew things would have been much different. However he had made good friends and enjoyed being with kids he didn't have to dumb down for. Even as the self-appointed vice president of the geek squad, Wally had still managed to date a beautiful and loving girl way-way out of his league. Sometimes his heart hurt thinking back, but when you're a Flash you always look forward. Wally had battled self-esteem issues at school and with the team, and he just wanted a place he could fit in for who he was. Stanford was it. He had started over, without labels, without typecasting. He could be whoever he wanted to be, and that was awesome.

As he sat on the coach, he absently caught site of a breaking story on CNN. He sat up slightly as he saw his old team, now for some reason being referred to as The Titans, rescuing the victims of a severe flooding in the Southeast. He smiled with pride as the camera captured the heroic acts of bravery as Conner, Kaldur, Kid Flash and the new Robin and Nightwing fought the savage wind, lightning, and crumbling buildings, pulling family after family to safety and higher ground. That's when he saw her.

Despite then new uniform, he would always be able to recognize the sleek, muscular, feminine structure that was Artemis.

Slight pangs of regret filled his stomach, but he did not change the channel until the coverage was over. He missed his friends and that included her. The anger and pain had subsided slightly over the months, and Wally tried as hard as he could to focus on the good times. There would always be hurt, but denying it would make it fester. He refused to live like that. He was not one to look back in anger for too long, as he reminded himself once again, a Flash always looked forward.

Speaking of Flashes, his Uncle Barry had sent him a house warming gift weeks ago he had forgotten about. With the schedule he had been keeping lately, sometimes little things got missed, like laundry or housekeeping. He quickly jumped to his feet and ran over to his dresser to retrieve the unopened parcel. He tore into the box and found a smaller one inside protected by a security thumb print. The same one the League used for non-priority but secure shipping among its members. Quizzically he placed his thumb on the small scanner and the box slowly opened. He pulled out its contents and the note inside. He read the short letter first.

_Sorry I haven't made it out there yet, Can't wait for you to show me the campus and the labs, Bart says hey and misses you._

_We thought long and hard about what your new apartment needed and decided this would be the best fit. For emergencies only _

Barry.

Wally held the small item in his hand and broke out laughing. It was a Flash ring. 'Not something I will keep on the mantle' he thought, but something that meant a lot that his Uncle had thought of him. He put in back in the secure box and placed it on his bedside table, a nice reminder of who he was and the family that supported him. He found his laptop and began a thank you email.

Months passed and Artemis marveled at the way her team performed. She had now been team leader for almost two years. The team had grown in size and manpower. No longer were the days were everyone was assigned to the same mission. Careful shuffling of personnel and school schedules allowed everyone to participate, everyone a chance to make a difference without overwhelming the young heroes.

Tonight of course was the exception. This night had been a particularly violent mission. A small band of mercenaries led by the assassin known as Deadshot, had attacked a small research lab in search of something. Something important. As the team fiercely battled with the other meta human employed by the assassin, a frustrated Deadshot took a female research assistant hostage and used her as a human shield. The team froze as the assassin held the gun to the girl's head and slowly backed several hundred yards away, before throwing the girl to the ground and jumping in the escape vehicle currently screeching to a stop before him . It was about three seconds after the door was slammed shot and the accelerator was pushed to the floor that the small ping of an object hitting the car was noticed. Ten seconds later, 500 volts of electricity shot through every metal surface of the car electrocuting and incapacitating all inside. The shot had come from Artemis's bow at least a thousand yards away. An Impossible shot, a one in a million shot, something she seemed to make at on a astoundingly regular basis.

She stood there, frozen in her shooting stance and watched the car flip up to its side knocking over a fire hydrant, adding to the conductivity of the jolts shooting through the vehicle .Artemis smiled in pride as her team mates removed the remaining mercs and Deadshot form the car unconscious.

Later that night the two leaders sat outside the cave, enjoying the cool night air sharing several bottles of wine that neither of them were technically old enough to legally drink. Sometimes authority had its privileges.

"I'm really proud of those guys," Dick remarked. "I thought losing Kaldur and Zatanna would really hurt our experience and dynamic, but those guys really stood up today. You have trained them well Artemis"

Kaldur had taken an extended leave of absence for some much needed time at home, and Zatanna's recruitment to the Justice League had been long overdue.

Artemis smiled taking a long swig of her glass. "Our training Dick, Yours and mine. Together. I didn't do this alone." She handed her glass to Nightwing for a refill when a loud hiccup escaped her throat, both of them beginning to laugh hysterically.

"How much have you had?" Dick playfully asked.

"I quit counting two bottles ago." she laughed. "Pour me one more, then I'm done. "

"Pour it yourself Tigress," he laughed and pulled the bottle away from her.

She reached forward and grabbed the wine and they both wrestled with it laughing, until Dick fell on top of her losing grasp of the bottle. The wrestling stopped as they both locked eyes. She had grown more beautiful over the past year if that was even possible, and the man lying on top of her was no longer the teen she had remembered towering over.

There was a pregnant pause until finally they both attacked each other, lips locking, tongues exploring. She grabbed him by the hips and pulled him into her as she heard a moan escape his mouth. He moved from her lips to her neck and began feverishly making his way down her shoulder. She ran her hands into his dark hair as their bodies began to grind against each other. She moan loudly as the pace increased until Dick abruptly stopped.

"Oh God," he exclaimed as he slowly rose form her body. "We can't do this."

"Why not?" she questioned frustratedly.

"You and I both adults, Were both single. What's the problem?"

"You know what it is." he told her with a disappointed look on his face.

She knew exactly what he meant. Relationships within the team had been disastrous. Megan and Conner, Z and Dick, her and Wally. They had even lectured the younger heroes on the dangers of it, despite their personal knowledge and observations of the endings. Dick and Z's have been friendly and mutual. Conner's and Megan's were cold and distant, feelings they harbored even today, and Wally's…well everyone had watched that train wreck.

There had been a mutual attraction between the two leaders from the beginning. He was two years younger and he recognized the feelings she and his best friend had for each other, even before they knew it. She had considered the young sidekick an annoying but charismatic boy she had been slowly been growing closer to for years. She assumed it was just friendship but lately became curious if it was something more. Despite the alcohol that currently clouded her mind, she knew he was right. Just at the moment she wasn't happy about it.

"I'm going to head in..….you coming?"

"No," she snapped. Then calming her tone she added." I'm going to stay out here for a while ok?"

"Ok…Uh Goodnight Artemis. I'm sorry. I just shouldn't have…you know."

"I know. Me too. I'll see you in the morning," she said quietly

Dick walked off towards the cave and Artemis continued laying on the ground. She stared blankly at the sky, running the last few minutes through her mind over and over. Nightwing was insanely attractive, but he was probably her closest friend outside of Zatanna who she barely got to see anymore. The thought of the sorceress made her feel shame. She missed her friend. Z would probably laugh at the incident tonight. She was one of the last of the free spirits and no longer had any direct connections to the former boy wonder.

It's not like she initiated it. It just happened she thought, trying to convince herself of it. They were just two curious hormonal adults. As Artemis pondered more about it, she knew he was right. A small disappointment fell to her heart, but the thought of losing such a good friend was too much to risk for a one night stand. She had lost so much already, and that's when the tear fell from her eyes. It wasn't for Dick, it was for someone else. Someone she would also watch the stars with.

"Damnit!" she cursed out loud angry for her weakness, and got up and headed to the cave. She needed to fix this right now before it was too late.

The cave was quiet. Living quarters were unintentionally broken into two hallways, with the original members getting the newer larger rooms, while the freshman, as they were jokingly referred to, got the older smaller rooms.

With much of the older members gone for the weekend, Artemis still instinctively remained quiet as she made her way towards Dick's room. She heard his voice from six feet away. The door was cracked and he was stripping out of his uniform. He pulled the armored top of his battle suit off, revealing his muscular arms and chest while his phone lay on his desk on speaker mode. Artemis felt her face flush as she watched the attractive hero disrobe, but with a mental jolt cleared her mind focusing on the repair she intended to peruse. That's when she heard the other voice echoing in Dick's room. That's when she felt her heart stop.


	8. Unexpected Occurrences

_Author's Note Ok I Published much more than I planned. Please take time to review them both. Last chapter was kind of hard to write, but I am particularly proud of this one. Either way R & R and thanks for reading_.

Unexpected Occurrences

"Sorry dude, Pizza man at the door. This is the first place I have ever lived that they deliver, how cool is that?"

"I'd warn you about the freshman 15," referring to the weight gain must most students experience with their new found meal freedom, "but it would be wasted on a guy with your metabolism. So how ya been?" he slightly slurred.

'Wally! Oh god no, Not now,' she begged. 'Please Dick, not now, don't do this,' she pleaded mentally.

"Good. Busy, you know the drill. So what did I do to deserve a drunk dial from you so late on the East coast? I am not talking dirty to so you can go to sleep. Never again." he laughed as Dick remained silent on the other end.

"Dick you ok? What's wrong?"

"I kissed her Wally. I kissed her. I can't believe I did it and I'm really sorry."

The phone became silent on the other end. A pause that seemed like hours to Nightwing.

"Sigh….Dick. It's ok," Wally said glumly, his voice becoming quiet, "She's not my property. She never was."

Another pause and he continued. "I'm kinda surprised it took this long. It was kind of bound to happen. I always thought you two might have been meant for each other. You all always had much more in common then she and I did. You guys have the same goals, the same fierce training, same commitment"

"Wally it's not going anywhere. It was wrong and it was a mistake. She and I both know it. I promise you it's not going to happen again. I just wanted you to know…..we never keep secrets from each other."

Wally let out a long sigh. Artemis couldn't tell if it was hurt or frustration. His voiced seemed so much deeper, with just a hint of the spark she remembered. She could hear the beginning of a West Coast accent as his Midwestern tone slighted faded.

"Listen. You've got nothing to be sorry about. I appreciate the guy code, but I lost my visitation rights a long time ago. I know you are feeling guilty, but you shouldn't. She's a great girl, and even if you're not feeling it now, you never where this might go. No one thought she and I would have lasted for so many years. It's not like I'm thrilled, I'm just not mad. Artemis and I were a long time ago. Everyone moves on. It's a universal constant. In all seriousness though, I need you do me a favor ok. Are you listening?"

"Yeah I am." Dick replied.

"Treat her right ok. Don't make the same stupid mistakes I made. Always be honest with her. She is an amazing girl…I guess woman now. Sorry. We never had it rough like she did as a kid. Her dad made her so closed, so distant sometimes. He made her do things that have scarred her for life. You know she has major trust issues and probably always will. Artemis will always be battling those, at least she did when we were together. Never hide things from her. She deserves that. Everyone does. Now stop beating yourself up and go to bed. I don't envy your hangover in the morning."

"How would you know? The guy whose metabolism will never let him have one."

"It's not from lack of trying," Wally said cheerfully through the speaker.

"Wally?" Dick somberly asked"

"Yeah" he good naturedly answered, trying his best to bring keep his friends spirits from crashing.

"Do you still love her?"

Dead silence reigned.

"Listen buddy, it's late here so the sun must be a few short hours away there. Go take two Tylenol and gets some sleep. Everything's ok. Do you hear me? It's fine. Go talk to her in the morning. It will all sort itself out."

"Thanks Wally. If you're not too pissed at me, maybe I can get out there in a few weeks or…. You could always….you know…come out this way.

"Things didn't go so well the last time I was there. I'm safer out here," he laughed. "Good night Dick."

"Night Wally and hey…Thanks."

"Don't mention it, seriously."

Artemis quickly walked away and found her room. She couldn't catch her breath. She tried to slow her heart and her mind. Hot tears threatening to roll down her cheeks, the guilt and the pain kicking her in the gut.

'God Damnit' she thought. 'Why did he have to call him? Why did Wally have to be so sweet about it. So nice.'

She didn't care how kind Wally was trying to be to his friend, it had to hurt. She didn't want to hurt him anymore.

She cursed herself for allowing herself to feel the excitement of hearing his voice again. They were over, had been for a long time.

"I am not in love with him anymore," she assured herself. "This was just a weak moment, and I don't do weak moments. She laid down, uniform still on, slowly dozing off, letting the alcohol and exhaustion take their toll.

'I'm so screwed' she realized as she wiped a new tear from her eye.

The next morning Artemis awoke not feeling as bad as she feared. She was determined not to waste any time as she made her way down the hall and urgently knocked on Dick's door. A few moments later a very disheveled and hung over Nightwing opened the door in only his boxers. Artemis refused to look, even though she wanted to, and went straight to the point.

"I'm sorry. You were absolutely right. That can and will not happen again ok?"

"Please stop yelling" he pleaded.

"I'm not," she said urgently and then softly. "I'm not. Dick you are about the closest friend I have. I never want to lose what we have. It was stupid and we were drunk. I'm not one of those 'let's pretend it didn't happen girls', but I'm willing to try anyway.'

"Look I'm the one that should be apologizing. I saw it coming and I didn't stop. Let's just chalk it up to experience and leave it at that. Ok?" he stated firmly.

"Ok," and she hugged him and it felt the way it should. Friendly. She had always wondered what it would be like kissing him, wrapping him in her arms. It was only natural to be curious, but that curiosity came at a price, one she wasn't willing to pay.

"You uh..didn't tell anyone did you?" she asked coyly.

Dick put his hand on his forehand and grimaced. "Yeah…I think I did. You're not going to be happy about it," he said his voice full of guilt. He prepared for the verbal onslaught ahead, but she only responded with a curt "ok" and quickly left the room

Wally was not in a good mood. He had not been in one for days. His best friend had made out with his ex-girlfriend, and he could not get the image of that act out of his head. Everything he had said to Dick he wanted to be true, he just wasn't happy about it. Wally was too honest with himself not admit his feelings were pure and unbridled jealousy. He had begrudgingly tolerated the boys from Gotham Academy she had rubbed in his face, he had even accepted the lame kiss she smacked on Roy, but making out with his best friend was just low down. The fallout of their breakup had remained an open wound, and Dick no matter what his intentions, he had ripped of the bandage.

There was only one thing that would take his mind off of his problems, and it happened to be something he was one of the best in the world at. Running.

As he sped up the Pacific Coast Highway, he felt his mind clearing and mood changing. No one would be able to see him at this speed, so he never regretted giving his old uniform to Bart. Watching the waves crash as he ran made the pain and jealousy slowly fade into the distance, despite the fact the ocean often reminded him of her. He knew he still had feelings for Artemis, but the best he could ever hope for was one day to be friends, but that was miles ahead at best. It often puzzled Wally when he looked back at their relationship, why friendship had been so hard. They had progressed form grudge holding teammates, to frenemies, to dating, and finally to love. Just plain friendship seemed so hard, but anything was possible. A slight bit of resentment popped up its ugly head at the thought of his best friend asking him to be his best man at Artemis and Dick's wedding, but that image slowly disappeared as Wally kicked in the speed, leaving that thought miles behind him. He began to slow down and catch his breath as he observed the mountains quickly coming into focus in front of him.

He pulled out his GPS that was a staple of his old uniform and read it.

"Mt Hood? Aww man…. "

He was standing halfway in Oregon, hungry and broke, wallet hundreds of miles away.

"Dangit," he yelled into the air frustratedly, and turned to begin his trek back. Once again his mood turned for the worse, but at least now he wasn't angry with his best friend anymore.

Days later Wally decided to do something he had never done before. Something shocking, something drastic, something he had dreamed about a few times, but never had the courage to do. He was going to skip class. He had stayed out till midnight with several friends from school outside the local BestBuy waiting for the doors to open as the herd rushed in. The new Call of Duty had finally been released. They all made plans to meet online at 9:00 am to begin their multiplayer onslaught. Wally had carefully carbo-loaded for the long day ahead. School actually had become somewhat stressful, and he desperately needed a release. Roy had called to check on him, and after hearing Wally's pent up frustration, suggested a professional he knew that could soothe all of Wally's ills. Wally passed, but kept her number anyway. 'Just for emergencies' he smiled.

He sat down on his coach and fired up the PS3 as he noticed the bowl of cereal on his coffee table begin to rattle, then the coach, and then the room.

"Uh oh," was the last words he said out loud before the real shaking began.

Kim Miller could barely hold her excitement as she made her way down Highway 101. She had just left her doctor and the ultrasound couldn't have been clearer. It was twins. Her husband was disappointed he would have to miss the appointment, but she knew when she brought him the picture, his expression would be priceless. Too late for breakfast and too early for lunch, she would just have to make up some excuse why she would show up at his office door before getting her camera out to document the moment.

Hanna Miller sat in the back of the minivan, headphones on, singing her heart out to some Disney song her mother had never heard of. Sometimes traffic on the bay bridge could be unpredictable due to fog, but this morning things appeared to moving nicely until she approached the toll booth and the warning signs. Road construction one mile ahead. 'Damn' she thought, she had even seen it on morning news, but it hadn't registered with excitement of the upcoming appointment. A quarter of the way down, the far inside right lane was closed for 500 yards as the construction crew worked on the final segment of the three month long project. Most work had been done at night, but crews had been ordered into overtime to complete the project before winter. Hurry up and wait echoed through her mind as her enthusiasm slightly waned thinking about the upcoming delay.

Linda Park was going to be sick, she just knew it. Watching Marvin "Mad Dog" Harrison scarf down what had to be the stalest Mongolian Barbecue she had ever smelled, combined with the sudden shifting of the traffic helicopter, had pushed her nausea meter to the breaking point. Marvin was a legend in at WKGO, and he paid no attention to the replacement traffic reporter as she stared at him and his breakfast.

"I heard Katie will be back Wednesday," she yelled to him over the loud turbines overhead. Marvin grunted something unintelligible and continued his meal while the station was on commercial break, his camera always at the ready.

As the newest reporter of the local CBS affiliate , Linda was prepared for every dog show, pie eating contest, and other fluff pieces all junior reporters had to do while earning their stripes. Hers just had taken longer than she expected. Any chance to be on air was a step in the right direction, and despite her fear of flying, when local favorite Katy Jamison had come down with the flu, Linda literally knocked over her supervisor to get the gig. She was questioning that wisdom right now.

Mad Dog, put down his meal and aimed the camera at the bridge as the station came back from the break. Linda practiced her delivery in her head as she waited for the anchors to announce her report. Finally the cameraman gave her the countdown as Linda began the news.

"Traffic is still backed up on the 101 as construction crews finish the last section of the bridge this morning. Public Works spokesman Kim Chang believes all construction should be complete by weeks end. So expect delays at the Golden Gate and give yourself about 20 extra minutes for your commute. Otherwise all secondaries are moving well, and past the bridge you should have no problems. This is Linda Park KGO Traffic"

Mad Dog announced they were out and Linda let out an excited breath.

"I think I nailed it, I think I nailed it," she gleefully announced as Mad Dog dove back into his meal.

"Yeah freaking Emmy worthy" he grumbled as something caught his vision.

Kim had finally made her way to the lane shift. The fog had lifted and the view was stunning. She had lived in this area her whole life, but the bay never lost its spell on her. She turned back to the road and glanced into her rear view mirror to monitor her daughters performance as the van shuddered violently and the first shock wave hit.

Each year the California area has about 10,000 earthquakes. Only several hundred are of a magnitude that would actually cause severe property damage. Most of them are so small that they a hardly ever felt. As her van began to rock violently, Kim Miller began to pray this was one of those.

Mad Dog continued starring as he brought his camera to his shoulder and opened the viewport to allow his lens access to the air. Linda sat checking her texts as Mad Dog nudged her hard.

"Get ready to break in rookie," as the pilot radioed the station.

Linda swallowed through the lump in her throat as she prepared to go live again.

The Golden Gate Bridge is designed to sway as much as twenty-seven feet to withstand earthquakes, but when a section of it is stripped down to the rebar or less, that section can be prone to collapse, the section right next to the Miller van and seven other cars.

Road and bridge workers desperately ran towards those cars attempting to help the drivers evacuate as the pavement next to the

roadwork began to crack violently. Screams could be heard as car horns and alarms echoed in and around the roadway.

"Honey, put down your iPod and come up here with mommy, right know!" she raised her voice trying not to alarm her child, but Hanna was aware of the rocking and shaking, as she turned pale and without speaking tried to undo her buckle and join her mother in the front. Kim saw the road workers systematically reaching the drivers on front of her, helping them out of their cars quickly, and she was hopeful she was next.

The tearing of the pavement outside was deafening and suddenly Kim felt the back of the van sink down as the pavement underneath began to disintegrate and fall through the rebar towards the ocean below. The van fell directly on top of the crisscrossed metal support system as the groan of metal bending began to permeate through the air. Kim was becoming frantic as she desperately tried to unbuckle her daughter. Wary construction workers looked fearful as the van began to break through the grid and suddenly the road gave way. Kim and her daughter screamed, as Kim was thrown from the front to the back, next to her young daughter. She wrestled mercilessly with the safety latch as the van dangled from the front to tires and axel over the swiftly breaking rebar.

Tears began to flow freely from her eyes as she saw the fear in her beautiful daughter's eyes and realized Hanna and the two unborn lives inside her were not going to make it to her loving husband's office. Kim closed her eyes and prayed for god's love and mercy as the van dropped another foot violently.

She finished her prayer and opened her eyes as she was greeted by the wide eyed smile of her daughter as she heard the windshield break.

The red hooded figure was waste deep in the van before Kim could react.

"I thought you guys might need some help, as he effortlessly detached the car seat from the bench seat of the minivan.

"Mam, two things. Don't look down and don't let go."

The next few seconds would be run 24 hours straight for the next six days on CNN, MSNBC, Fox, and all local affiliates. Mad Dog would win photojournalist of the year and Linda Park would get the big break she dreamed of.

Replayed over and over again in the slowest motion the hi def camera would play without losing resolution, the country marveled no matter how many times they watched it.

The Flash, with one hand holding the car seat carrying the young daughter, and the mother holding furiously around his neck, began the trek upward as the van and cars in front of them, finally breaking through the barrier plummeted to the ocean below.

A frame by frame breakdown would show the Flash defying gravity as she stepped from van to van, debris to pavement, as he gracefully jumped, ran, and kept his velocity moving upwards. Any debris, no matter it be broken glass, or the smallest rock, provided the Flash a nanosecond worth of support as he sped upwards until running out of substance to run on and jumping to the remaining exposed rebar.

Constructions workers were shown forming a human chain after the Flash clearly aware of the presence, struggled but finally swung the strapped in child to their waiting arms. The chopper zoomed closer as the woman was scene awkwardly climbing the crimson body until the workers grabbed her by her arms and pulled her up.

"So the kid's dangling and you could tell his arms were giving out and he yells up to us to just let him drop, and I say he'll no you just risked your ass for that woman, ain't no way we are letting you go. Oops sorry can you say ass on TV?"

Linda smiled and nodded. "What happened next Mr. Madison."

The beaming construction worker and his coworker smiled and continued their story in front of the camera. "We both had hold of his right arm, poor guy we could fell it tearing out of his socket, and we finally get him on top of the road as the damn bridge finally stopped swaying. I tell he is a solid sucker"

Lamar Lipscomb jumped in front of the camera and took his turn. "The guy puts his arm around us and asks our names. He calls us his heroes and says he will never forget us. Even promised us a case of beer if we would be out here next week. Can you believe the Flash called us his heroes. How cool is that?"

The video fades swiftly to a scene of the mother sobbing and hugging the scarlet speedster carefully avoiding the heroes injured shoulder as the he consoles her.

"A truly beautiful moment from scene of the amazing rescue that happened just moments ago as northern California gratefully welcomes the Flash to our fair city by the Bay. Reports are coming in from our different bureau chiefs of minor property damage, but thankfully no casualties. San Franciscans remain on guard for aftershocks, but right now everyone is just thankful the scarlet avenger was making a rare appearance to the West Coast. Who knows maybe he's a 49'ers fan. Reporting from the Golden Gate Bridge this is Linda Park WKGO news.

"And you're out," Mad Dog announced dropping the camera off his shoulder as the mortified reporter stood open mouthed, shock and panic spanning her Asian features.

"Oh my god, did I really say "avenger," she grimaced slapping her forehead. "Speedster, speedster, speedster," she kept repeating.

She looked at her cameraman for moral support as he held up his fingers forming the letter L and placing on his forehead.

"Someone please kill me now and get it over with," she moaned to no one in particular.

"That was so freaking crash Wally, You are the man!" Bart Allen's voice blasting through Wally's apartment as he tried desperately to turn the speaker phone off. The red head laid on his coach, large ice pack covering his injured shoulder.

"Imeanwiththerocksandthecarsa ndthattwomanscreamingwiththe kiddaglingwhatacoupleofhundr edfeetofthewaterimeanholyshi tWallywhatvwere..."

"Bart. Bart...BART! Slow down, you know I can't keep up that fast?"

"Did you feel it? Was it not so crash?"

"Yeah it was pretty amazing. I just closed my eyes and centered myself like you guys said to. I opened them and everything was in slow motion, like I knew how fast everything was falling, almost like I could control it."

"Dude wait till I tell them who it was, the cave will go nuts, I mean ..."

"Bart, you can't tell anyone."

"They are going to frea...what did you say?"

"I mean it Bart. Please don't. This was kinda a one off. I'm not trying to get back into the habit or anything. If some of those guys find out it could get..."

"Complicated?" the youngest speedster answered his own question somberly.

"Yeah, I'm not ready for anymore complicated right now ok?" Wally added.

"No problemo o'h cousin of mine. Mums the word." Finally his usually jovial nature softened," but seriously Wally, you were great today."

"Thanks Bart, that means a lot. Hey one quick question before you go, has Barry ever said anything to you about how to get the suit back into the ring?"

Silenced reigned on the other end of the phone.

"My grandfather..." Bart beamed, "Seriously could he be any cooler?" The cave had now seen the video at least sixty times. Though the video was still impressive, Bart's enthusiasm was beginning to wear. The rescue was less than two days old, but Bart literally hadn't shut up about it since.

"Did you see him, I mean the guy is practically everywhere, fastest man alive and all."

The pattern continued as he buzzed around, until one by one each member moved away from the speedster. Bart zoomed around the room coming to Nightwing and Artemis who were working a supply list.

He screeched to a stop and broke into a wide grin.

"Grandfather!" and he disappeared in a burst of wind

"What the hell was that about?" Artemis asked


	9. Close Encounters

_Author's Note. I have about 3 chapters ready, hard getting the time lately. Sorry. For some reason I am losing my steam, but I will try to update soon. Enjoy, R & R, and all that fun stuff._

Close Encounters

Batman sat silently in the underground cavern under Wayne Manor with a map of the U.S. on one of the larger monitors, while the Interpol profile of Vandal Savage sat on the other. Inside his mind the mechanics of Batman's brain was firing with activity, there was a major piece missing from the puzzle in front of him. He was confident he would solve it, but time was his biggest concern

Nightwing approached from behind and stood next to the seated detective as he continued glancing back and forth between the two screens.

Without being prompted, Batman began the conversation.

"I'm beginning to think this might not be The Light at all."

"What do you mean?" Nightwing asked.

"Savage has grown out of favor with most of his usual accomplices, but look here," as Batman switched the view to two video surveillance videos of Savage meeting with Dr. Ivo, and separately with Sportsmaster.

"These men would not be meeting with Savage unless there was something monetary for them to gain. The Light has never been about profit, but the good Dr. and Crock have. I'm thinking that maybe Savage is alone in this."

"I don't get it," Nightwing added. Savage is a world domination guy, a big picture guy. He blames you guys for holding back evolution. I don't see what possible benefit he gains form working with those two. They get paid, what does he get?"

Batman changed the view screen back to the map. On it were several locations highlighted and blinking.

"We've been getting numerous reports from Homeland Security that several nuclear faculties have been surveilled over last few weeks."

On the monitor, camera stills appeared showing unmarked black vans parked near or by the facilities.

"The points in question are Nuclear Research Laboratories. There are only around nine in the U.S., but I have narrowed down the potential to four. MIT, Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, and Rocky Flats."

"Why those four?" Dick questioned.

"They are doing similar research on a hybrid isotope called Plutonium 10. By that number you can guess their success rate to this point. It involves Nuclear fission with a heavy radioactive particle fallout."

"You know the only guy who would understand this is out at Stanford now right?"

Batman continued, "This particular type fission would use less material but has a byproduct of increased radioactive particles that stay hot longer. When I say heavy I mean there is actually substance to them, almost a radioactive powder. The theory is the source material has a shorter half-life, but the powder more than makes up for it. The new isotope would potentially be easy to clean and maintain. It would cut the need in half for spent fuel rod holding facilities.

"And the problem is...?"

The problem is if it were weaponized, the detonation wouldn't be as powerful as say an 18 or 23 kiloton warhead, but the fallout from the explosion would be more devastating in the long run.

"Because the radioactive powder would spread and contaminate..."Dick started

"Making clean up almost impossible." Batman finished.

"Killing millions with half the destruction."

"Exactly." Batman concluded. "Understand at this point it's all hypothetical. There is no credible evidence that they have successfully created this isotope. This is just one out of four scenarios we are researching, but this is one that Ray Palmer and I are following. Clark, Diana, and J'onn have different ideas and we are researching them all."

Batman and Nightwing had always been of one mind when working out possible scenarios. Regardless that their formal partnership had ended, the two men were still a dynamic team.

"So what can my guys do?"

"I have broken up the league into three surveillance teams. I'd like the Titans to be the fourth."

"Our facility?"

"Los Alamos"

The Bioship hovered camouflaged a thousand yards away from the Nuclear Laboratory. A series of high profile break-ins and embarrassing incidents of espionage had forced the government to enhance security in a very high profile manner. More guards, better weapons, and more safeguards, but regardless what measures had been improved, every facility would be unprepared for Metahuman attacks.

The Titans were on day three of their surveillance rotation and they were getting antsy.

"Can you just let me out for a few? I'm need to stretch my legs, or wings," Beast Boy asked

Tigress shook her head no. "We all want out Gar, if there are no signs in the next few hours we'll call it a day. Head back to the temp base and switch off for the next rotation."

The team had arrived earlier that week and set up a base of operations on the outskirts of town and away from prying eyes. A reconnaissance rotation was set up with rotating teams, and in the event of attack, the second team would just be a few miles away to assist.

Cassie yawned trying to keep her eyes open. Megan, Artemis, Cassie, Gar, and Jamie sat in the bridge monitoring the many sensors the Martian ship had at its disposal as the group monitored the day to day activities at Los Alamos. Dick, Conner. Lagan and Barbara were resting back in town awaiting the ship's return to begin their rotation.

Artemis received an incoming signal from earpiece and left the bridge for some privacy.

"How's it going?" Nightwing asked.

"Slow. Remind me again how I ended up with all the rookies?" she good naturedly joked.

"Just lucky I guess," she could hear him smile through the communicator.

"I noticed Babs ended up on your team," she poked.

"You noticed that huh?"

"Yep. Be careful Dick. Barbara is a no bullshit girl. I know em' when I see em'." Tigress laughed.

"I will. Thanks. … are uh we ok"?

"Yeah, we are….. and Dick?... Thanks." Artemis hesitated, nit sure to finish her thoughts or late the lay. "It was a mistake and I really appreciate it not going any father or making it weird. Screwing up our friendship is the last thing I want to do. Drunk and lonely is just a shitty combination.

"No worries. I'll see you in a few hours. Nightwing out."

Relief washed over Artemis as she headed back to the bridge, but the pangs of guilt remained.

The final two hours passed painfully slow for the Bioship and its crew and finally Megan prepared to bring the team back to town for the personnel shift change when the alarm rang out.

A propriety signal was received from Mt. Justice as Mal Duncan appeared on the view screen. "It's Rocky Flatts. They are requesting immediate assistance and you guys are the closest."

Artemis nodded to Megan as the Bioship engines screamed into overdrive swiftly turning Northeast.

"We're 350 miles away and we're the closest?" Jamie concernedly asked.

"Mal who do they have there?" Artemis asked

"Flash, Bart, Green Lantern, Zatanna, Atom, and Wonder Woman." Mal paused, clearly uncomfortable making his next statement. "It's AMAZO."

"Acknowledged. Tell them were on our way. Tigress out." Artemis was not sure what she feared the most. The time it would take for them to arrive, or the fact that she was taking a young relatively inexperienced team up against one of the most deadly threats the Justice League has ever faced. There was a lot of talent on team. A lot of power, but also inexperience when facing an Alpha Level Threat like AMAZO.

"Megan radio Nightwing and tell them our current situation. We're not going to have time to circle back and get them."

She frowned inwardly at the thought of not being at full strength, but Batman always drilled into her the need for team to be able to adapt. She hoped her team was ready.

Inside the court yard of the Rocky Flatts facility, Wonder Woman was going blow to blow with the seven foot android. The machine's absorption cells were in full operation as he blasted the Amazon with the duplicated heat vision belonging to Superman, Zatanna was already unconscious as Bart sped over to her, delicately moving her body away from the fray.

Green Lantern blasted away at the android's back, barely having time to form a shield as AMAZO's torso spun around and the radioactive powers of Captain Atom came into play, all the while its head still tracked Wonder Woman as its heat vision continued firing on her.

The battle was not going well as Ray Palmer safely kept his distance working out a strategy. As the Justice League's resident physicist, his expertise was crucial in dealing with the scientific logistics, but his size and fighting prowess were not in dealing with a creature as powerful as the android.

"J'onn we need those reinforcements now!"

"Teams have been notified and are in route. Do your best my friend, reinforcements will arrive soon," the Martian optimistically answered.

The Atom felt useless as he watched The Flash thrown across the courtyard. Suddenly an idea formed in his head as he realized what needed to be done.

"J'onn !I need an outside line and a cell number. Hurry!"

The Bioship sped past the border of New Mexico into Colorado when Nightwing appeared on the screen

"Where are you guys?"

"We are still at least 200 miles out," Artemis announced. "What's the word on the ground?"

"Not good, Z's hurt and they can't determine how bad. Wonder Woman and Green Lantern are the heavy hitters, but they need help. Soon."

Nightwing image shrunk into the corner of screen as Mal's image broke through on an emergency override. "Guy's satellite sensors are picking up something coming your direction and fast.

"How fast?" Megan questioned

"Mach 2 and accelerating."

"Is it a missile?" Artemis frantically asked.

Mal replied back, "I don't know. I can't get a lock on anything. I'm trying to tap into NORAD military satellites, but it's gonna take time. What are you guys reading up there?"

Every member secured themselves to their seats and began checking sensor readings.

"Megan, evasive maneuvers. Guys find it!" Artemis demanded as the Bioship began arching back and forth trying to reduce its radar signature and become a more difficult target to lock on to.

"I don't see anything Cassie!" yelled in frustration as alarms began to ring out over the ship.

"Mal we're blind up here! You 've got to find it now!"

"I'm trying. Hold on I got something….Got it. It's fifteen miles North of you on a heading northeastward. Guys it's on the ground."

Megan tilted the ship portside, angling it for a clearer view of the terrain below as Gar suddenly announced "I see it!"

The crew rushed over to the side as they scanned the ground, finally finding the unmistakable crimson and lighting distortion trail speeding across the countryside.

"Hold on!" Megan yelled as the ship was stuck by the shockwave trailing behind the object below.

Wondergirl jumped in "I don't understand. The Flash is on site right?"

"Megan switch us over to the Justice League priority channel. Hurry!" Artemis ordered.

The Martian complied as the channel came to life onboard the Bioship, its external speakers catching the conversation in progress.

"…find everything?

There was a momentary pause as the mic came to life, the howl of turbulence whining through the open channel as a familiar voice finally broke through.

"Yeah I got everything per your specs Doc, courtesy of the Stanford University Physics Department."

"Where are you Wally?"

"I'm in southern Colorado, about 25 minutes out."

"We might not have 25 minutes, you've got to hurry! I'm sending the layout to your PDA. I'll be in axillary control room B"

"Fifth gear coming up Doc," as the wind continued to howl through speedsters com unit.

The Bioship crew listened intently as the scarlet speedster suddenly disappeared over the horizon, his last words strained, directed at himself, "Come on Wally."

A jolt of adrenaline surged through Artemis's body as she heard her former lover's voice. She paid no attention to the subtle stares directed at her in the command center of the Bioship. She was nervous about the team and the inexperience she was bringing to the battle, but knowing Wally was going to be there gave her some small hope of success, and maybe something more.

As Wally West arrived onsite, he barely had time to take in the battle. His sudden arrival was not unnoticed by the android as laser beams lashed out at his speeding form. The speedster avoided the attack bypassing the battle, heading directly to the Atom's location.

Papers lying on desks near Ray Palmer shot all around him as the Flash sped into the room taking off the backpack he carried on him.

"Wally, help me assemble this. You have the power source?"

Wally nodded handing the Doctor the glowing orb, as Ray fitted in into the small circular dish.

"This thing is going to be strong enough? "Wally worriedly asked, clearly not impressed with its size. He had expected something much bigger, but decidedly did not debate it with the award winning physicist.

"You know what you have to do right? He worriedly asked the speedster.

His answer was a forced smile as Wally vanished from the room.

Aboard the Bioship still monitoring the channel, the facility began to take form off in the distance.

The ship, still monitoring the frequency heard the Atom's warning. "Diana, Hal, retreat back, we have the package coming out!" the Doctor urgently announced.

Wally was next. "Barry, Bart I need a distraction for a few seconds."

The two speedsters immediately understood and began a maneuver the three of them had practiced time and time again.

Kid Flash began a rotation around the android carefully keeping his distance as The Flash created the same circle in the opposite direction. The rotations momentarily confused the android as it began computations to deal with the newest threat.

Bart and Barry were inches away from each other narrowly avoiding contact as they saw Wally speeding towards them.

At a velocity and understanding only three men shared, Wally broke through the rotation seconds after the two speedsters passed him, powering towards the android. In what has been considered the trademark Wally West move, the red head dropped to his knees sliding under the viscous swing of AMAZO, quickly passing behind him as the android in a blur it rotated around him and swung again as Wally spun around raised his arms to protect himself

"This is going to hurt," was the last thing everyone heard him say over the radio as the blow landed.

The Bioship hovered above; watching the battle as the young Flash was seen flying through the air, landing with a sickening thud, his body breaking through the brick façade of the building his was knocked toward.

"Ray were here!" Artemis announced as she watched her former teammate hurdling through the air, silently cursing his inexperience and rust placing him in a deadly position he wasn't prepared for.

"Stand by!"

As AMAZO pulled his fist back from the vicious blow he had delivered to Wally, it noticed the glowing disc attached to the outside knuckles of its fist. The disc burst into light and the android suddenly bent over, shutting down, falling to the ground.

A combination of the two remaining Flashes and Green Lantern quickly came to the android side and began forcibly dismantling it, worrying that it might come back to life. It never did.

Ray Palmer stood near the fallen machine smiling, enlarging to his full size. "Miniature EMP, pretty cool right?" the three men tearing the droid apart exasperatingly agreeing.

Artemis and her team landed shortly after, checking on the fallen security personnel littered across the courtyard and

nearby offices. The guards and army personnel never had a chance against a threat like AMAZO, but the brave men

fought along the heroes as best they could. Some injuries were severe as medical personnel arrived.

Once the perimeter was checked by The Titans to ensure of no further threats, they met back inside. Artemis was relieved to see Zatanna up and about. When she heard she was unconscious, she feared the worst. There was someone else she desperately needed to find, but she had to check Zatanna first to make sure she was all right.

"I'm fine," Z answered hoarsely, the bruises around her neck forming a dark purple ring. "Damn thing was fast. I never saw it coming."

She noticed the impatient worry in Artemis's face. "Go, I'm fine."

Tigress quickly turned, looking for the fallen speedster. Fifty yards away she saw a group of doctors surrounding a seated crimson figure. Artemis followed by Megan, Gar, and Cassie approached them worried at what they might see.

Artemis took a deep breath as she was faced with the vision of her former lover seated on a makeshift gurney, the top of his scarlet uniform removed and hanging down below his uncovered chest. It had been over a year and a half since she had last seen him and she was surprised at how different he looked. Gone was the shaggy read hair she remembered, replaced by a tightly shaven side and back haircut, the spikey locks on top barely remaining. He chest was larger, more muscular than she remembered, and his face was framed by wide wired rim round glasses, looking the part of the scientist he hoped to be one day.

The doctors around him were wrapping his chest with tape, a sure sign they were dealing with multiple broken ribs. Wally held an ice pack to the back of his head talking to a doctor, when he turned and caught site of her.

She feared what his reaction would be until he glanced over at her with a surprised look that morphed into a small smile that spread across his face. The kind grin reminded her of the thousands she had received from him long ago, and despite her tough exterior, it did makes its way slightly to her heart.

Bart and Gar rushed past Tigress and quickly appeared at Wally's side.

"That was so crash Wally," Gar announced as the two speedsters looked at each other in amusement and chucked, reacting to Beast Boy's use of Bart's vernacular. Bart could easily pull it off, Garfield not so much. Wonder Woman and Ray Palmer came over to Wally's side and congratulated him

"Man I am sure glad I reached you. I wasn't sure you'd pick up."

"It was a great excuse to get out of English class, not my favorite subject," he joked in his humorously unique tone. He quickly became serious and shook Ray's hand. "Glad I could help. Um…I'm going to need those replacement pieces by tomorrow before anyone knows their gone."

"I know right where they are. We'll take a quick trip back to my lab at Ivy U, and have you back in time for dinner. My treat."

"You might regret that doc, but it's too late to take it back," Wally replied.

He looked over at Tigress as she smiled back and turned away toward the approaching magician.

"Don't worry," Z smiled before Artemis could ask the question." An auditory visual morphing spell, no one will remember what he looks like or any names used. Easy peasy."

Wonder Woman gently placed her hand on Wally's shoulder. "Nice work Wally, Ray."

"Thanks Diana."

"The rest of you," she announced. "We will debrief at the cave this evening. This was fierce battle, Hera has blessed us with victory. I will see you all tonight.

Gar looked at Wally smiling. "You coming?"

"Can't tonight buddy."

"Hot date?" The green skinned teenager smilingly inquired.

"Yep. Russian girl named Cathy. You'd like her. She'd be into you."

"Cool!" Gar excitedly replied.

"Not cool, " Bart laughed. "He's talking about Catherine the Great. You know the Russian queen or something that had a thing for…..err horses?

Wally shrugged and smiled "Soviet Political Systems, ….um just call it Russian History class."

Beast Boy pretended to be hurt " Aw man, it could've worked who knows," and mockingly stormed off.

Artemis smiled as Wally once again made eye contact with her. She turned away momentarily, feeling the blush forming on her cheeks. When she tuned back the speedster was still staring at her.

He gingerly rose to his feet wincing in pain, and carefully made his way over to her. The surrounding heroes recognizing the moment, walked away giving them some privacy.

Artemis began." So that was you in San Francisco?"

"Afraid so," he smiled

"That was pretty amazing, so was today. You took that blow head on so you could stick the EMP on him. Pretty ballsy.

"Thank you," he kindly smiled, one she didn't realize how much she had missed. Her last memories were of his face so filled with hurt and anger.

"So Tigress huh," He said glancing up and down at her tight fitting uniform. "I miss the green."

Once again she fought the blush, "So …..you're now…

"The Flash" Barry answered walking by. "There's room plenty enough for two of us," He carefully tussled Wally's hair and continued past them.

"Um…We're still working on that," he shyly answered.

"It's what you always wanted."

"Not anymore. There was something out there much more important than that."

Artemis's heart skipped a beat at Wally's reply, looking her sweetly in the eyes. She tried her best not to show it, but she was sure Wally had picked up on it. Despite their time apart, she was sure he could still read even her subtlest of movements.

"I've uh….been watching you guys. You l look great, uh the team I mean. You guys have really been kicking some ass."

She laughed as she watched the frustrated speedster try to untie his words.

"Thanks Flash," she grinned.

They both drew slightly close, trying not to get lost in each other's eyes, the spark definitely still there, each of them outwardly trying to ignore it.

Atemis nervously asked, "Do you need…a ride or anything? We can take you back to school if you like."

"That's really sweet…I mean nice. " Wally looked to the sky in embarrassment as he struggled to find the words he was attempting. "I'm sorry I can't speak right now. It's probably the concussion. Thanks for the offer, but I really have to get that replacement equipment from Ray. I only have a day before someone realizes it's gone, and I was the last one in the lab, but it was nice of you to ask."

Artemis continued to softly smile at him. Wally looked extremely uncomfortable in his own skin when he finally found the courage, and took her hand at held it between them.

"It was really great to see you Artemis…I mean Tigress…ugghhh…I sound like such an idiot."

She squeezed his hand assuredly and grinned.

"It was good seeing you to …..Flash."

They both smiled and reluctantly let go.

"Maybe I''…..Wally started and looked to the sky again, frustrated at how awkward he'd become around her.

He nervously ran his hands through his hair and abandoned his last thought. "Take care of yourself Artemis."

"You to Wally," and they walked away in opposite directions.

The speedster noticed the goose bumps forming on his skin as she walked away. It had been almost two years since they last spoke and even then she wouldn't use his name. Hearing her husky voice again pulled at his heart strings. They had both moved on, but the attraction between them was undeniably still there. Wally wondered if she had felt it too. He pulled his uniform top back on, instantly regretting the movement as pain surged through his body. He knew he would heal, but it was going to take a while. Ray Palmer was waiting on him on the other side of the compound, but Wally couldn't take his eyes off of her. Before she boarded the Bioship, she glanced back to see if he was still there. Their eyes met for the briefest of moments and she smiled at him one final time. She turned and walked up the ramp, swinging her hips ever so slightly.

Taking off his glasses, he carefully pulled his cowl back over his head trying to avoid the contusion still swelling on the back of his skull. He nervously rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands, trying to shake the last vision of her out of his head.

"What am I doing?" he worriedly asked himself.

Artemis sat down onboard, waiting for the rest of her team to board. Zatanna sat next to her leaning over and grinning.

"Shut up Z" she smiled, cheeks bright red, nudging her friend back to her seat.


	10. Facing the Facts

_Author's Note. Ok I'd like to apologize. This chapter sucked. I rewrote it three times and I still don't feel like I got it right. I promise the next ones will be better, but I think I've hit a wall and some serious writer's block. I have one more ready to go, then I will have to take a break. I hope you will stick with me. R & R and tell me where I could have done better. I could use the critique. Thanks._

Facing the Facts

The Rocky Flatt and Los Alamos teams arrived back at Mt. Justice several hours later. Via video Batman linked up the two teams for a quick debriefing.

Appearing on screen Batman quickly got the point. "After the break in at Rocky Flatt, the US Government in all their wisdom has finally decided to take this threat seriously and is in process of gathering all the Plutonium 10 and place it all in one secure location. Superman and other members are supervising the transport up until the point the Government places it in whatever secret facility they see fit.

"So mission success?" Wonder Woman asked.

"Unfortunately no. The Russians did not live up to their end of the bargain, and their small supply of the experimental isotope went missing weeks ago. They finally released that information this morning after news of the attacks went global. The good news is whoever stole it only has half of the material necessary to create a weapon that could possible affect multiple cities, but it is still enough to be quite formidable."

"So what's next?" Flash asked.

"We remain vigilant. We continue searching for Savage and monitor any weapons trafficking. Just because they did not steal enough of the experiment isotope, does not mean they can't get their hands on the standard type. There are more than enough countries out there willing to let that go for the right price, until then we stay in constant contact between the two teams and go back to standard patrols and missions. Any questions?"

When none presented themselves, the video ended with a terse "Batman out."

As usual Bart was the first to react "Downtime!' he yelled and deviously smiled and sped off. Artemis was about to address the team, but realized after a multi-day surveillance operation trapped in the small enclosed Bioship for hours at a time, downtime and freedoms was just what she and the team needed.

"Great Speech," Dick smiled as he quickly scanned for the general direction Barbara Gordon has disappeared off to.

"You're still a troll you know," Artemis smirked.

"I know, "he winked. "By the way, good job today."

"We really didn't do anything you know. The situation was in hand before we arrived. We got lucky."

"Uhuh," Dick remarked. "I guess you were just lucky they had the right personnel in place to deal with the threat."

Artemis knew what Nightwing was searching for. He too was concerned about his relationship with the speedster. He had no regrets about confessing to his friend, but the consequences of it should have been expected. Despite the cordialness of Wally's initial response, Dick's texts and emails for the most part were left unanswered or ignored. On the rare occasions he actually got through, the standard excuse of school and workloads had become the norm. It was clear to Dick that their friendship had been severely damaged, he just hoped not irrevocably so.

Nightwing was grateful the one between he and Artemis had not been. They were friends, friends who had mistaken close friendship for something more. One night of alcohol and bad decisions had led them to this path. There had always been mild curiosity between the two, even when Wally was around, but it should have stooped there. Both realized it. Both had learned from it.

Despite his outgoing nature, Dick Grayson was a very private person. No matter how complex or mundane his troubles might be, there was only one person her would go to and discuss them, and that person wasn't there anymore.

As Dick attempted to pry further about Artemis's interaction with Wally, they were interrupted by Zatanna, who took the archer by the arm, and with a short and curt _Goodbye_ to Nightwing, quickly took Artemis out of the room. Artemis stopped Z and turned her friend towards her, looking at the severe bruising around her neck the android had done to her.

Z spoke with a slight rasp. "It looks worse that it feels."

"I doubt that, "Artemis said worriedly about the magician. "Let's get that looked at, "and proceeded to drag her resistant friend to the med bay for a medical scan.

Once inside and satisfied with the results, Z was released from the MRI and gingerly got to her feet. She slightly lost her balance as Artemis caught her. "You need to lie down. Come crash in my room for a while. I've got to clean up, file reports and schedules anyway. It will be quiet in there."

Z reluctantly agreed and followed Artemis back to her room.

A quick spell and Zatanna transformed her uniform into a baggy pair of sweatpants and tee-shirt.

"Isn't fishnets and high heels not the best idea for battle attire?"

"Says the girl dressed like a cat."

"A tiger," Artemis smiled and corrected her.

Zatanna propped her pillow up and stretched out as Artemis undressed and put on a bathrobe for a trip to the shower. The blonde sat at her desk, removing her mask and freeing her hair.

"Are we really not going to talk about it?" Z asked.

"Wasn't planning on it."

"Fine. I know it's a touchy subject. You can keep it to yourself. I won't ask."

Artemis began brushing her hair, absentmindedly looking at herself in the mirror, lost in a thought.

"It was good seeing him though," she said quietly.

Zatanna just sat silently not giving Artemis the slightest impression she had noticed her statement or cared. The two women had been friends for a long time, and both knew each other intimately. They both knew the game they were playing, and kept to their roles until Artemis broke the rules.

"Ok. Fine. It was great seeing him. He was nice. He was friendly. I've….."

"Say it…" Z continued.

"I've missed him. You happy now?"

"Maybe. Are you?"

That was a question Artemis had struggled with since Colorado. There was no denying the excitement she felt when she saw him. His smile was as heartwarming as always, but there was no escaping the wake of destruction their breakup had left behind them both. A brief heartwarming moment was not a new beginning, but it was something.

"I'm glad I saw him. I'm glad it was civil. It's been a long time. Hopefully we have both moved past all that's happened. I don't want him to hate me."

Zatanna rolled over and faced her friend. "He didn't hate you. He was pissed and hurt, but you're not the person he hated."

"Who then?"

"Himself Artemis. He hated himself."

She let out a painful laugh "You didn't see him that night in the ring Z. You didn't see what I brought out in him."

"Your right. I saw him after."

"What do you mean?" Artemis questioned.

"I talked to him before he left."

"What? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because he asked me not to. You wouldn't have wanted to hear it then anyway. It was too soon. You both made mistakes, but instead of trying to work them out, you pushed him away. You and I both know why."

"Tell me," the archer quipped, becoming annoyed at the therapy session she had not asked for.

"Two words. Abandonment Issues. Honey your childhood is what horror movies are made of. Your father hurt you in ways that you will be dealing with for the rest of your life. From the moment you and Wally said I love you, you had been waiting for it to all come crashing down. Each day you woke up, you expected him to be gone, and each day he was still there, but even then you still wouldn't allow yourself to believe that you two were perfect for each other."

"Come on. It was never like that. We didn't have some perfect relationship. We argued and fought all the time. "

"Sure you did. You loved to. Hell it was like foreplay for you two, but it wasn't meant to be hurtful. Maybe in the beginning it was, but after you two became a couple it became fun, or a reason for you to have a chance to make up. Trust me everybody heard you two when you were making up."

Artemis began to blush. "Shut up."

"You didn't want this. You didn't want someone on the inside, but when Wally broke down the walls and pushed his way in, you were glad he did. He brought out something in you that you never knew existed. So then you find yourself in a happy place finally and you never want it to change, but guess what Artemis, everything changes. It has to. His college decision knocked you for a loop, and you went into shut down mode, locked him right out after that, and here we are."

"It's not that simple Z."

"Sure it is. Look it was stupid for him to make that decision without you. Its usually the smartest people that make the stupidest mistakes He should have done it differently, but you know damn good and well he didn't mean to hurt you, and he sure didn't want you two to end. He didn't do this to move on from you, he did it to move forward. Life can't stay still. Not for you, not for me, and sure as hell not for one of the fastest men alive. You realize with all of Wally's abilities and the technology at your disposal, that distance doesn't mean a thing. Just call it what is, you felt like he betrayed you, like he was going to leave you like…"

"Don't say it." Artemis sighed.

"I won't but you've known this all along. I didn't show you something you hadn't figured out for yourself. You are one of the bravest chicks I know. I've seen you tortured, bruised, bleeding, and not backing down form any of it. That's just who you are, but if there is one thing you're scared of it's heartbreak. It's a childhood thing, I get that, but since I am playing therapist, my guess is you were too afraid to turn off the anger because that's the way you got through your family leaving you the first time, and it worked then so why not now? The one person you could have gone to for help and comfort was the you couldn't trust anymore. You just didn't know how to turn it off. Listen honey you're always going to have those fears, those scars, you just couldn't see the difference of what Wally did and what your dad and sister did. Your mind might have, but your heart couldn't."

"Why are you telling me all this now? Why didn't you do it back then when it would have made a difference?"

"Because Artemis, you weren't ready, I think you are now."

"Ready for what? To start over? Are you insane? This is the guy I humiliated in front of his friends, got together with his best friend, and just generally shit on. It was great seeing and him again, I'm not denying that, and it made me happy, but he was just being nice. That's who he is, you know that. Any real feelings he had for me flew out the airlock a long time ago. I'll always love him Z. He was my first….hell he was my first everything, but too much time has passed, too much damage done. Give me one reason to think he could still care about me after all I did?

"I'll give you something better. "_ekam syllaw rettel reppa_." and in a burst of light and smoke an envelope appeared.

"He wrote it the day he left, but was afraid to give it to you and tore it up. I decided I should keep it. For someone who hates you, he sure said a lot of nice things about you."

"You read it?" Artemis asked.

"Of course I did. I'm nosey remember?"

Artemis stared at her mirror image, reflecting on those last months and trying to balance Zatanna's words with her memories. "A lot has happened since then. I knew the Gotham guys would hurt him, but the thing with Dick wasn't on purpose. Do you think he'd ever forgive me that? I don't know if I could."

"I did"

Artemis sighed." I guess I never apologized to you either did I?"

"Honey, Dick and I had been over for years. You have nothing to apologize for. Plus you know how important new experiences are for me. I promise it was never an issue with me, and you know I speak my mind. I just give him the cold shoulder to screw with him. He was too chicken shit to say anything about it to me either so I just like messing with him."

"You sure?" Artemis asked hopefully.

"Absolutely. Plus I slept with Wally anyway, so let's just call us even ok," Z smiled.

Artemis laughed secure in the knowledge Z was teasing her. "Knowing my speedster you know that wouldn't have taken long."

As soon as she spoke Artemis knew exactly what she had said.

"You did hear yourself right?" Z inquired

"Yes" Artemis sighed sadly, "My speedster."

"He put the mask back, on. He's forgiven you and himself. Maybe it's time you do the same. Whoever said time heals all wounds was absolutely right, but sometimes it needs some help. Just ask yourself one question. Not to Tigress the extraverted kick-ass team leader of the Titans and hard core adrenaline junky, but to Artemis the sweet and shy girl inside that never wants to be seen in public. Has Artemis felt something in the last 2 years that felt as good as seeing him this morning? Read the letter, then you'll figure out the rest. Now shut up and let me sleep."

"It's my room bitch," the archer laughed.

"Unless you want that robe to disappear in route, I suggest you take the letter and go someplace quiet, someplace I'm not sleeping," she smiled.

Artemis in a very un-Artemis move, pulled the sheets over her friend, tucked her in, lightly kissing her forehead.

"Thanks Z."

"You're welcome A," she mockingly answered. "If there is one thing I have learned in this life is it's never too late to start over. Take the first step."

She walked down the hall, finding the only vacant spot in the hallway. His room. She walked in, turned on his desk lamp, and locked the door behind her. She was nervous, but she had read it. She owed him that.

_Artemis,_

_I know this is going to be a mistake. I know there is a extremely good chance this ends up on Facebook or in some chain email where everyone follows your lead and makes fun of me, but if this the last letter I ever send to you, I want to do it right. _

_I am so pissed at you. If your goal the last few months was to embarrass me, humiliate me, and generally make my life miserable, than congratulations. Mission Accomplished. So what I'm going to say next is what makes me want to bang my head on my desk until I can't see straight._

_Thank you._

_Not for the last 5 months, but for all the ones before them. Thank you for being my girlfriend. I know tone is impossible to read on a letter, but I mean it from the bottom of my heart. You are an amazing person, and I was lucky to have been with you. You are beautiful, smart, funny, and whole lot of other great things. You can also be one mean evil bitch. I knew that going in, and I sure as hell know it going out. But we both know what it's really about. _

_I wish... Well I wish a lot of things, but I wish I could invent a word to replace sorry. It's way overused and lost its sincerity decades ago, but that's all there is right now. I'm sorry. I know I have told you a thousand times, but it was never about leaving you. I blindly thought if I took the first step, you'd take the second. I would never have asked you to quit being who you are, just maybe we could become something more. I know you can look at that two ways and I meant both of them. _

_I wish we could have talked and worked this out. I know I screwed up. I was so excited about my future I lost sight of my present._

_Just so you know I don't believe for a second you don't believe in marriage. You and I have been around too many people that it worked for, and I saw the way you looked at them. It wasn't disgust or pity, it was hope. Maybe it wasn't supposed to be with me, but I know you would have liked to someone eventually. _

_For the record yeah I would have liked to have been the one, not at 18, but someday. I just took for granted we would last, and that's where I screwed up first. The second was not being honest with you. For someone who has major trust issues, I couldn't have committed a bigger sin. That sounds like I'm being sarcastic, but I'm not. Just sad. _

_The fight in the ring was the last straw. I knew better than to go. I tried to fight it, I begged myself to walkway, but I wasn't strong enough. Watching you laying there bleeding finalized my decision. I don't deserve to wear the mask anymore. I didn't give it to Bart to screw with you. The uniform means something. It is supposed to honor my uncle and those before him, but I did a really shitty job at the end. Just don't take it out on him Bart ok? He's going to be a great one. I think you and I both know it. _

_I am just rambling now, so I guess I better end it. I love you Artemis. I loved you from the movement before you died during the exercise, and I will love you until the day I do. _

_Those aren't empty words. I mean everyone one of them. Whoever you end up one day is going to be a lucky person, I will always regret it wasn't me._

_I hope one day we can be friends again, but honestly I will not be holding my breath. I hope you will be able to remember the good times, that's what I'm going to try to do. _

_You are great leader, it's what you were meant to do. I know you probably think this pretty pathetic. You might even be laughing your ass off, but it doesn't matter to me. _

_I'm going to miss you a lot, and I wish you nothing but the best._

_Love, _

_Wally_

Artemis carefully folded the note and put it in her robe pocket. She wished she would have seen it sooner, but Z always had that annoying habit of being right. She had two courses of action. One to stay still, and one to leap into action. She never liked being still anyway.


	11. Go West Young Archer

_Author's note: Sorry this took so long to update, unfortunately this might be the norm for a while; I will try to make it worth it your time. You never what happens if I get some reviews though, as always I find them quite motivating. Enjoy R & R if you can._

Go West Young Archer

Artemis went straight to the briefing room where Nightwing was uploading mission reports to the JL database.

"I need to talk to you.

"Hang on a second'" as he finished entering his access code sending the encrypted reports to the Watchtower. "What's up?"

"Listen I know my timing sucks, but I need a day or two off."

Dick gave her a knowing smile. "Should I ask why?"

"No," she said firmly. "It's personal. Let's just leave it at that. I know Batman is going to pissed with me asking off mid-mission, but I have something I need to take care of. I've got the time."

Artemis's privacy was legendary within the mountain. While much friendlier and more open in some respects then in years past, when it came to personal matters, she was practically unreadable. However after being partnered with the world's greatest detectives for most of his life, Dick had learned a thing or two about reading unreadable people.

"I'll take care of Batman, you go take care of him," Dick kindly answered. "It's time."

A quick thanks and she was gone.

She carried her bag to the Zeta tubes, only to be greeted by Connor giving her a weary look.

"Don't say it," she politely warned as she approached the console entering in her desired location.

Conner remained silent as she finished the location code and turned to face him. He was about to speak, when he silently withdrew giving her a concerned look.

She matched his gaze and sighed "Conner I need you to trust me that I know what I'm doing."

"Do you?" he questioned.

"Absolutely not," and they both broke out in soft laughter.

"I need to do this. If I don't do it now, I never will. If you had the chance to change what happened between you and Megan, wouldn't you?"

Conner stood silently contemplating her words.

"All I want is proper closure, to end it the right way. You and Megan may not be best of friends, but you still care about her and would do anything to keep her safe. I want to give him the same courtesy."

"Have you considered what happens if it becomes something more."

Artemis sighed. That was an excellent question, one she had been struggling with since Zatanna gave her the letter.

"It's not going to, trust me, but if it does, I will deal with it then. For once in my life I am leaving my pessimism at home. I am going out there with no expectations other than trying to make a friend again.

Conner just hugged her. "Just be careful. You know I like Wally. He really is like a brother to me, but just know this, if he hurts you again I'll kick his ass.

"He won't Conner. That's not him and you and I both know it, but thanks for ...worrying about me."

She smiled and entered the tube and disappeared into a flash of light.

Wally moved carefully across campus, struggling to carry his overloaded backpack that would have normally given him no trouble.

One of the common misconceptions about accelerated healing is you can take all the punishment one can possibly withstand, and wake up the next morning raring to go. The accelerated healing helps tremendously with the mending of tissue and speeding up clotting factors, but nerve cells heal on their own schedule. Even with his ribs slowing mending back together, Wally was still in a lot of pain. Whenever he passed someone he knew, the speedster would stand upright and give his best false bravado, but the moment they would pass, it would take all his effort not to double over. Sitting through classes, even his favorite ones, became exceedingly difficult.

As he left _Experimental Physics I: Mechanics, Heat and Fields_, he had only one thing on his mind, bed. As much of a rush it had been to play the hero game days earlier, he was paying for it now. It puzzled him why he didn't remember hurting like this during all his years at the mountain, but that seemed like a lifetime ago. Twenty-one seemed much too young to feel so old.

He entered his apartment and went straight to his bedroom, dropping the overloaded backpack to the floor with a solid thud. Because of his schedule, this was technically his Friday, but it didn't feel like one. His study group had a session planned in the evening, and even though the magic words of _Pizza_ had being included, Wally knew his body wouldn't let him attend. Nursing broken ribs had not even been considered when he got the emergency call from Dr. Palmer, and despite their collective success and of course seeing her, he was thinking about keeping his cell phone off during classes from this point on. He was hopeful a weekend of rest combined with his metabolism, he might be mostly pain free by Monday.

Wally struggled to remove his shirt and looked at himself in the mirror. The thought crossed his mind that maybe Crayola would call and tell him they had named a new shade of purple after him and a check was in the mail. In reality his chest looked much better, but even with his accelerated healing it still looked damn scary.

His stomach gurgled as he buried himself in his pillow. Food was always priority number 1 with him, but right now it was bumped back to 2, actually more like 1a. He turned on his fan for background noise, and within minutes he was sound asleep. A few hours of shuteye, then two large pizzas with everything, plus some Call of Duty didn't sound like a bad weekend at all.

A loud series of knocks jerked Wally out of bed and his ribs set the rest of his body on fire. The second round of knocks came as the sleepy eyed speedster struggled out of bed and checked his clock. He had been asleep for about an hour and a half, but it felt like only about 20 minutes. His mind was barely functioning as he opened the door and a ghost from his past stared at him and smiled.

"Artemis?" he said in disbelief.

"Uh hi, can I come um...come in?"

Wally stood there opened mouthed, momentarily lost in thought. If he was actually still asleep, as far as dreams go, this one was not starting out not too bad, but the throbbing of his sides quickly dispelled that thought.

"Yeah sure come on in. Sorry for the mess I wasn't expecting anyone," as he gently sped around the cramped quarters, cleaning of his couch from the magazines and schoolwork that covered them.

"I was in the neighborhood," she smiled.

Wally struggled to shake the cobwebs from his head, and without the ability to actually form words he just smiled. He was sure he looked like an idiot, but at the moment really didn't care.

"Those look bad'" she said referring to his purple torso. He embarrassingly realized he was shirtless and carefully pulled an abandoned t-shirt off the floor and put it on.

"I can't believe you here? How'd you find me?"

She rolled her eyes as Wally realized he was dealing with a world class tracker. He wondered if back in her Shadow days some poor soul had asked her the same dumb question.

"Can I get you something?"

"No I just thought I'd sit here dying of thirst, hoping you recognize the signs of heatstroke before I passed out."

Her sarcasm caused Wally to chuckle. How many times had they bantered like this back in the day? He hadn't realized how much he missed it. "Ok smartass what would you like?"

"What ya got?"

"The usual Coke, Beer, Water. The essentials."

"Since when does Wally West drink beer?"

"I'll have you know as a newly minted 21 year old, I have been known to on occasion have a beverage or three. It's really more for whoever is desperate enough to come over to this cracker box and hang out with me.

The shock of hearing his age reminded her she had missed his birthday. His sixteenth had been ok, but with his Megan-Conner realization and then spending the next day in the hospital in Seattle, she knew it had not been what he had hoped. After the two had been dating, his eighteenth had been much nicer, with both of them sharing and experiencing things together that the two hormonal teenagers had waited so long for.

"Ok. I'll have a beer then and make it two. A girl never drinks alone."

Wally was preparing a smart ass retort, but realized it might not be such a good idea to get back into such old behaviors, no matter how fond of them he was.

He returned to the couch with two cold bottles opened them up and shared them with his guest.

Artemis smiled and clinked her bottle with his and they both drank.

"Happy belated birthday, did you do anything fun?"

"No not really, it's not like my parents could afford to come out here, but we'll celebrate the next time I get home."

"I did get this though," and he pulled of the dust cover to a large screen TV sitting on top of what might have been his dresser. "Saved up all my birthday, graduation, and Christmas money for this. Pretty slick huh? It is officially the nicest thing in my whole shitty apartment. "

"So I'm not nice?" she smirked.

"Jury's still out," he winked clinking her bottle making sure she knew he was joking.

"So seriously, what brings you out here?"

"I told you I was in the neighborhood."

Wally gave her one his classic judgmental, but good natured stares. The same ones he would throw her way when she was desperately losing an argument, and to spare her the indignantly of being wrong, he would usually kiss her and whole thing would end in a win-win them both.

"Ok. I know I should have called or given you some warning, but I was hoping..."

Artemis paused, actually nervous to finish her sentence. Wally immediately picked up it, but was equally concerned at the direction it was heading.

"I was hoping we could have the conversation we should have had a year and a half ago."

Wally was generally shocked. He had been extremely happy to see her in Colorado, but he attributed the niceties to the success of the mission, or perhaps because he had just gotten the shit kicked out of him, she didn't want to pile on or be rude.

Wally nodded begging to say something when Artemis cut him off.

"Look I've got to get this out. I'm going to apologize in advance, cause I'm probably going to ramble, but you know how hard this is for me."

She took a deep breath and began "I'm sorry. I was a f***ing bitch. I was a complete and utter shit to you, and there was no excuse for it. I know it is way- way too late, but I'm really sorry. This is a really lame excuse, but the whole time all this was happening, all I could think of was my dad. You've heard all the stories before, but the last time all my family was together, my Dad had somehow conned my Mom to let him comeback, and for a while it was great. It was almost like we were a real family, like the ones you'd see on TV. We didn't actually know any real ones to compare it to."

Artemis felt the anger building in her chest and had to stand up and pace a bit trying to calm herself to continue.

"He had done this a few times before, but I was too young to remember it. Jade kept warning me, but I still got lulled in. Then one day he was gone. Took all my mom's money and jewelry, even took the little money Jade and I had saved. It crushed me. I was so angry and hurt, and then embarrassed that I had fallen for it. Not long after that Jade left too."

"I swore to myself I would never trust people after that. I didn't with Arrow even after he took me in, never with Batman even after he offered me a chance to be on the team, And with you? There was no way I was trusting a boy I had just met who clearly didn't like me or want me there."

Wally frowned at the memory. She was not being mean or vindictive, but plainspoken and unfortunately for Wally, everything she was saying was dead on.

So we kind of become frenemies, and after saving each other's lives a dozen times or so, I started thinking I needed to give this whole trust issue a second shot, So I came clean about my family, I kiss you and we start dating, easily the happiest time of my entire life. Zatanna told me I kept waiting for you to leave me and she was right. I expected things to go South and they never did. So you can guess the rest. The whole college thing gets sprung on me, I freak out and see you just like I saw my dad, and I just lost it and I was going to punish you the way I wish I could have done him."

"I tortured you, just wanted to tear your heart out over and over again, and I think I succeeded. You didn't deserve it Wally and I am so damn sorry. I really hope one day you can forgive me. I know this is probably too late, but I mean every word of it, I wish I had had the courage to say it earlier."

He was speechless. Even at the height of their relationship, apologies were never Artemis's strong suit, but this one had a sincerity and openness to it he had never felt from her before.

"Artemis, it's ok. It was a long time ago. We both made mistakes. I'm not innocent in all this at all. I should have thought things through, and definitely communicated with you what I was thinking. I just never expected that it could …."

And with that Wally was out of words. What was he supposed to say? It had crushed him? That he had spent countless sleepless nights in tears fighting his heartbreak? She had come to make a peace offering, bringing all that up would serve no purpose, and the last thing he wanted was to rehash it.

She watched him, carefully hanging on his next word.

"nevermind..., it's ok. You and I aren't those people anymore. I'm just glad you here. I'm glad we could talk about it. Plus I don't get many visitors from back East.

They both sat in awkward silence, until Wally got up to get them another drink. Even though it was unspoken, the stress was evident with the unspoken mentioning of his old teammates. Especially one he had been avoiding for months now.

She gladly accepted the drink and Wally sat down across from her. She nervously searched for her next words.

"Don't blame dick, it was my fault. You shouldn't be shutting him out."

"Listen, you and I sitting here and being civil and friendly to each other is huge, I mean that sincerely, but, and I mean this with all due respect, so please don't get pissed when I say this. Dick's and my relationship is none of your business, just like his and yours is none of mine. I really do mean that in the nicest way possible, so don't go storming out thinking I'm a jerk ok? I appreciate his honesty and I will respect your two's privacy, but it's just been a little hard to deal with. It's just going to take time, and let's leave it at that.

"Wally, he and I aren't together, we never were. We just made a drunken mistake and…."

"IT"S NONE OF MY BUSINESS ARTEMIS, Wally said politely, but firmly

"Listen jack ass I just…., and she caught herself and shook her head in disgust. "I'm sorry Wally I am really trying not to be that girl again. I came out here to see you. Just you. And even though you didn't ask or don't care to know, I am not with anyone right now and haven't been for a really long time. There. It's out and we can move past it ok!?"

Wally started another protest, but realized his ex was really trying to be nice, and didn't want to screw up a nice day.

"Ok" he smiled.

Without any direction to go and with all the revelations that were happening, Wally just went with where his curiosity led him. "So what happened with the guy from Gotham?"

Artemis lightly laughed, "Brad was really a nice guy, but it was never serious, plus my other job would always be hard to explain."

She carefully retuned the volley, "Are you seeing anyone?"

"I went out a couple of times with a girl from one of my classes, no big though. I don't know if you knew this, but I'm kind of a stud in the geek community, but so is Sheldon form The Big Bang Theory so that's not saying a whole lot."

That statement brought a smile to her face and cut tension in the apartment that had been slowly building.

"Wally, that self-effacing thing you do kind of gets old after a while; you have to stop selling yourself short. You're the freaking Flash"

"Still working on the name remember? Listen I'll never not want to be a hero, but right now I don't miss the dual identity thing. It's taken awhile, but I like being Wally West again, I like being a student. I miss my friends and I get these really weird pangs of ...I don't know if its regret, envy, or pride every time I see you guys CNN or something, but right now I'm in a good place for me."

"I really like Wally West too," she replied. "Even when he wanted me off the team and called me Replacement Arrow for 6 weeks," she said with a smile.

"Well I guess you showed me Tigress, leader of the Titans," and clinked their bottles one more time before finishing their beers."

Wally's cell phone rang and as he read the caller ID, and he realized he was missing an appointment. "Artemis, this is my study group. We had a get together planned tonight, but I was blowing it off anyway. Give me a sec, and …don't leave ok?"

"Ok,"she smiled

Wally stood outside the door to talk to his friends and Artemis got up and causally explored the apartment. The conversation had gone better than she had thought possible. Right now would be the perfect moment to end it. Leave on a high note. She would keep in touch with the speedster, maybe even con him into some missions if all went well, but that's where it would end. Friends. Just what they both wanted and needed. That sounded like a great plan to the archer until she found it. Underneath ten pages of Calculus homework and two bags of McDonalds wrappers. She saw the book. _Intro to Vietnamese Literature_. She held the book and just stared at it as Wally walked back in. She didn't try to hide it, a small tear escaping from her eye.

Wally silently came over and took the book and from her hands and laid it down on his makeshift coffee table. He gently took the archer in his arms and they embraced for the first time in what seemed like years. Wally could feel the hot tears on his neck as Artemis held him silently. A tight and strong hug. She also noticed the dampness on her neck as she realized the red head was doing the same.

"I'm so sorry Wally."

"I am too Artemis," he whispered back.

They held each other silently for minutes until Wally carefully broke the embrace.

He sniffled and tried to lighten the mood as Artemis turned away composing herself.

"Well it's not every day that you are 'in the neighborhood', so what would you like to do?"

"Well what does this sleepy little town have to offer?"

"Sleepy? Are you kidding me? Aside from being next to the coolest college in the country, my humble opinion, never proven scientifically, but I am working on that, we are a few miles from one of the most famous cities in America."

"Oakland?" she teased.

"You're killing me girl. San Fran. The City by the Bay, the Gateway to the Pacific, the best Chinese food this side of Beijing. Have you ever been there?"

"I've been through there, but never spent any time there. Wasn't really impressed though," she teased

Wally growled in mock frustration as he watched the pleasure form in her eyes.

"Maybe you didn't have the proper guide?"

"Do you know where I could find one at such short notice?"

The speedster cleared his through in pride. "I just happen to be familiar with said city and would be happy to show you around."

As soon as he said that he realized transportation might be a problem. "I um…probably can't give us a ride. I can barely run on my own, passengers might be a bit tricky."

"I suppose it would be wishful thinking to think you had a car," Artemis asked.

Wally just stared at her. "You see my apartment right? Does it look like I can afford a car? I don't even own a bed frame. The Wayne Foundation grants are generous, but not that generous."

"Right. Why would you need a car? Fastest teen alive and all that. Its ok I have a rental, and no, you can't drive."

Wally groaned, but got up gingerly and helped the archer to her feet.

"You're going to love this place."

Artemis didn't argue, but she was sure no matter how many cool things she was shown, the company would be better.

"You're sure you don't have any plans?"

"Not unless you call Call of Duty and two large Domino's pizza actual plans?"

"Throw in a Dr. Who marathon and you might have me." Artemis added.

"Nah you'll like this better. Trust me."

"I will and I do. Let's go," and then shortly the two wore in the archer's car heading up the 101.

It would take days, weeks even to get a real feel for what San Francisco had to offer, even after being near the city for almost two years, Wally had just barely scratched the surface. He did not want to take for granted how long Artemis would be here there for, or what she would want to do. He himself had spent days exploring the California Academy of Sciences Museum. Where else could you find a Planetarium, Aquarium, Natural History and Science museum all rolled up into one? They should at least drive by the place, Artemis may not be the science nut he was, but she was incredibly smart and had a real interest in the subject.

Throughout the next hours Wally took her on what he called the Great San Francisco Sampler. It entailed of course the Academy, as well as The Golden Gate Park Archery Range. Wally got great entertainment out of watching Artemis exasperated expressions watching everyone shooting with the wrong stance, and mis-sized equipment. Once she realized she was being mocked, she popped the speedster in the arm as they both broke out in laughter. Next was a driving tour of some the most famous locations used in the movies. Artemis and Wally were both film buffs, and seeing where movies such as Bullitt, Dirty Harry, and several places The Rock was filmed, the archer found extremely fascinating. A trip to San Fran would not be complete with a cable car ride, which the two did three times, and finally a sit down at the House of Naking on the edge of Chinatown. With what little money Wally usually had, somehow he always had enough for his favorite restaurant.

To end the night the two made their way to the Marin Headlands for the quintessential view of the Golden Gate with the City in the background. Even at night the view was stunning. Of all the activity they had seen, this was probably her favorite, they stayed there for hours catching up, laughing, and truly enjoying being with each other.

Artemis pulled up in front of Wally's apartment around 1:00 a.m. They were both tired and could not stop yawning. As they both stood outside the car, a slight bit of awkwardness surrounded them.

"You know you're welcome to stay. My couch folds out, you can have my room."

"I can't Wally. I left in kind of a rush from Mt. Jus…..Happy Harbor, and I have a lot of things left unfinished, I am the boss after all. Can't be a slacker, plus you really need the rest. You were a great guide, but I could see you were hurting. Don't argue with me, you know I'm right."

Wally smiled at her statement.

"Plus that was definitely not the best Chinese food I've ever had."

"Are you kidding me!? That place is world famous. You can't find a place like that anywhere out East"

"In your dreams Kid Stomach, I could find five of them."

"Well I'm definitely not taking you Chinatown again."

"Well I'm definitely not going to waste my time seeing some stupid museum with only 2 hours before it closes" she quipped..

"Well I'm definitely not inviting you back to the coolest place on the West Coast."

As they playfully bantered the distance between them began to shrink.

"Well I'm definitely not interested in going back to the Marin Headlands and actually seeing the sun set instead of watching city lights. I can do that in Gotham."

"Well I'm definitely not going to take you to Alcatraz, even though with your personality, they may not let you leave. They might even reopen the place," he chided.

Before they realized it, they were inches apart.

"Well I am definitely not coming back out here next Thursday for a few days. I'm definitely not expecting a longer exploration of the city including the California Academy of Science or The Redwood National Forrest, and I definitely don't expect you to be waiting at the Zeta tube by 4:00 p.m.

"I definitely don't expect you to spend the night at my apartment, I definitely won't show you the time of your life, and I definitely don't want to you to know that…..I missed you."

"I definitely don't want you to kiss me right now," she whispered.

"Me either."

Their lips locked as they brought each other into themselves impossibly close. If Artemis or Wally had thought they had felt a spark the last time they had seen each other, it was a blazing forest fire right now. Their kisses were long and deep. Wally cupped Artemis ass and placed her on the car hood as she entwined her legs around him. He kissed down her neck as she dug her fingernails into his back. The speedster let off a slight moan as the archer panted

"Oh God Wally."

Suddenly the speedster stopped kissing her neck and looked into her eyes.

"Say it again."

"Whhalley," she breathlessly whispered, and he smiled a smile she had not ever dreamed she would see again. Their faces were flushed and they were breathing heavily. She could see the effect she was having on him and she liked it. She desperately wanted to feel him again.

"We are not getting back together you know," she smiled

"Definitely not, horrible idea," he replied

He laid her down on the car hood and the dance began again. The rental would not be returned for three more hours.


	12. New Beginnings and Unforeseen Turns

_Author's Note__. Sorry for the delay. Life and work getting are just getting in the way. I initially hoped to have this finished before the return of YJ, but I doubt that will happen now. Keep your fingers crossed Spitfire fans, hope the producers continue to do the right thing. As usual I hope you can find the time to R & R. Next chapter is about halfway done. Hope you enjoy. _

New Beginnings and Unforeseen Turns

Artemis already had her bow cocked and ready when the alarm sounded and the simulation began. To most people this would be called a strenuously impossible activity, but to Artemis it was just target practice. She sat in the middle of the simulated cityscape, as random windows began to open and snipers and civilians appeared within them. She had a split second to decide before her arrow was in the air. The trick was the snipers would actually be firing explosive projectiles which force the archer to move and shoot on the run. If one arrow hit a civilian the simulation was over. Artemis rolled and dove as explosions rocked all around her. The time limit was 3:00 minutes, and at the 2:50 mark she hit all her targets. The last window opened and she let the arrow fly, sure it would be the last sniper. Unfortunately it was a civilian. She ran for the building and leapt on to an abandoned holographic car and launched her last armament. Her grenade arrow was much more aerodynamic than her standard blades she had launched previously, and that difference plus detonating it early, allowed the shock wave to disrupt the originals trajectory just enough that it harmlessly hit the brick façade missing the civilian as the timer went off.

When the klaxon sounded, Artemis fell to her knees, soaked in sweat and exhausted. She felt great.

Nightwing applauded as Artemis sat on the ground, catching her breath form the strenuous simulation.

"I didn't hear you come in." she stated looking back at her impressed teammate.

"Didn't want to blow your concentration. That was pretty amazing."

"Thanks. So what brings you into my torture chamber so early," she asked wryly.

"I just saw the surveillance schedule you sent me this morning and was hoping you could shine some light on it."

"Sure," she answered. "I spoke to Batman a couple hours ago and he proposes a joint Titans/ League surveillance operation. One Leaguer and one Titan paired to watch the key players Batman has targeted in the Savage operation. It's soft surveillance so nothing dangerous. It allows the two teams to interact and get to know each other better, especially the freshman, and it's broken up so it won't overwhelm everyone schedule wise. It still allows for time off, and keeps teams open and fresh if missions come up."

"It's a great idea; I see you already signed up first. When did you do this?"

"Early," she answered.

"Artemis, it's early now."

Nightwing looked at the archer as she shrugged, and disappointment painted his face.

"I'm…I'm sorry things with Wally didn't work out."

A sad expression crossed Artemis's face. "How'd you know?"

"I'm a detective remember?"

"Explain?" She asked curiously.

Nightwing sighed, not trying to belittle his friend's feelings. "You ask for a few days off, and you're out there less than a day. You're at the gym at the crack of dawn working out what appears to be some major anger issues, and you signed yourself up for the first three rotations of the surveillance schedule to keep yourself busy. I don't mean to simplify what you're going through, but puzzles are what I do. You don't partner up with Batman for years and not learn something. Regardless I'm sorry. I was really hoping it…it would work out."

"Thanks Dick. I didn't realize I was so readable. Well you know….. it wasn't meant to be. Life moves on. Nothing else to say I guess."

She picked up her towel and wiped the sweat of her face and torso.

"I got to go. I need to post this to the rest of the team and prepare for my rotation tomorrow."

"I really am sorry Artemis."

"Thanks, "and she walked to the door.

Before she exited she turned back to him. "For the record I like puzzles too you know. Just out of curiosity see if these pieces might fit. I came back so late form my visit last night, that instead of going to bed I just stayed up and tried to get a head start on some things. Also when I made the schedule I intentionally took the first few days so I could have the next few off. By the way I scheduled you for Thursday thru Saturday. Oh and I am going to be gone Thursday thru Saturday for a short trip to the West Coast. Palo Alto I'm thinking. I hear it's nice this time of year." she winked as she walked out the door,

Echoing through the hall still loud enough for Nightwing to hear she added one more statement. "Trained by the worlds greatest detective and you missed all that? I think I'd want my money back."

Nightwing had to laugh at himself as he heard her footsteps slowly fade in the distance. He was generally happy for her until he realized that his plans with Barbara, which Artemis had been very aware of, would have to be canceled. Seems she wasn't so readable after all.

Artemis arrived in Sausalito at the Zeta Station located inside the abandoned warehouse shortly after 4 p.m. local time. Her eyes searched the dusty broken down interior of the building and finally called out the speedsters name to no response. She checked her phone and there were no text messages on it other than the short confirmation he had sent earlier in the day.

She dropped her bags and walked around cautiously. All Zeta Tubes were specifically located in areas that had long been closed down or condemned. Ironically most of the abandoned properties were owned by the parent company Wayne Enterprises, so no immediate plans for refurbishment or demolition were ever planned.

Artemis carefully opened the emergency exit to see if her weekend companion might be waiting for her outside. No Wally. Not a soul around. She turned around to walk back to the tube to confirm her location when she noticed her bags were missing. In their place was a to-go-box, with something delicious smelling inside along with a note. Realizing what had transpired she smiled and picked them both up. Opening the note she read.

_Just wanted to drop your bags off back home, we won't be returning back to Palo until late. Got you some Caterpillar roles, I hope that's still you favorite sushi. It's about lunch time out East so I thought you might be hungry. Also its 4:02 so technically you're the late one. Be back in about 10 minutes. I hope you're ready. Last weekend was just a sampler; this weekend is the main course. Ok I just realized how stupid that sounded, but you get what you pay for. See ya in a few._

_P.S. we're still not dating._

_Wally_

The archer smiled and took the to-go-box and waited outside for her not-boyfriend. Being out here with him felt like a weight was lifted off her shoulders, a weight she had not known existed. This was going to be a fun weekend, and she could not remember the last time she had used those two words together in ages.

Three days later, as she collapsed in her room back at Mt. Justice, she grinned widely realizing the trip had lived up to its billing. Shortly thereafter that, the non-courtship officially began between the non-boyfriend and girlfriend who were not dating and were definitely not in a relationship.

Artemis had as much free time as the rest of her team, but she rarely used it. Her off time usually consisted of reading and disseminating daily briefs from Batman, programming elaborate training simulations for the team, assigning mission personnel, maintaining the daily operations of the base, and on rare occasion spending time with her mom in Gotham City. She still spent time socializing with the team, but that was done almost entirely in Happy Harbor. Things were about to change. Zeta travel made it ridiculously easy to see the speedster in California and she sadly wondered why she hadn't seriously considered this before their relationship fell apart. She understood Wally's reluctance to travel this way to see her. There were a lot of bad memories for him there, and she was more interested in new beginnings then unhappy endings. She reluctantly accepted his desire to avoid his best friend for a while. Perhaps it was the guilt of her part in that which made coming out to him that much easier, and if she was being completely honest with herself, she liked being away. Even team leaders needed a life outside of the hero gig. Once again another lesson Wally had tried to teach her years ago. It was so frustrating when he was right all the time, she thought with a laugh.

Over the following weeks, the two could be seen regularly on campus lying together under different shade trees as Wally studied or did homework, while Artemis lay head propped on his chest going over the daily inter reports she was responsible via secure tablet. Occasionally she would accompany the speedster to his Vietnamese class and observe the ridiculously poor pronunciation of the student trying to learn the particularly difficult language she had known since childhood.

San Francisco was everything Wally said it was times 10. Every cheap or free thing in the city was explored and their money was saved for the big events such as the Science Academy, Giants games, and of course dining. Lots and lots of dining. There were plenty of days where they would hang out near the Bridge, or the forest, or the park. The locations never really mattered, just the company. Regardless of how happy they were to be together again, they carefully avoided too much emotional sharing, and dodged the L word at all costs. Artemis in the smallest corner of her mind began imagining life out here, but would quickly try to dismiss it. She had a home, job, and a commitment to others, but it was still fun to fantasize about. She begrudgingly realized that Wally's college choice had been perfect.

Their days were tightly planned, but the nights were left free for studying, relaxing, exploration and other activities.

"Oh God Wally. WALLY!"

Artemis collapsed on the bed followed by the sweaty speedster following suit next to her. Both were out of breath and in absolute bliss. Artemis pulled the bed sheet over them to cover their naked bodies and rolled over to face Wally.

"Well that was ok I guess," she smirked as Wally grinned back.

"If that was just ok, why are your nail tracks running down my back?"

She kissed him and ran her fingers across his damp face. They both just looked at each other, studying every detail of the other. They had always had the ability to say so much with just a look. Sometimes words just got in the way. Wally had always been blown away by her sheer beauty, and as she aged she became more so in his opinion. No matter how many times she was told it, Artemis could never see herself that way, but when Wally stared at her like he was now, a small part of her tried to believe it.

Artemis looked at Wally who seemed deep in thought.

"What's going on in there?"

"Hmmm? Oh nothing."

"Wally?"

"It's nothing really. Don't worry."

"Wally?" she said a little more firmly.

"I'm just wondering why this is happening now. Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely happy and if you try to get up I will tie you down, hmmm that actually leads to a whole different line of thinking….."

She, as usual, punched him to maintain his focus.

Wally rubbed his arm. "Never gets old. I just felt like there was something more going on when I saw you in Colorado. I know I had been thinking a lot about you, but that's easy. You guys are on the news all of the time. I was just wondering what if anything made you think of me."

"Not going to get mad?" she asked sheepishly.

"Well until you said that so ominously I wasn't."

"Wally." she growled

"Ok fine." he said in mock disappointment

She took a deep breath not looking forward to his reaction. "It was your letter."

"What letter?" he asked genuinely confused

"The one you wrote me the night you left."

She watched as Wally's face turned white from shock to red with frustration.

"I swear to god I'm going to kill her. She kept it didn't she? What the hell was it about my room that made you people feel like it was a Kwiki Mart?

"Well maybe it was because your pass code was 12345. Robin used to hand out your energy bars like candy." She said with a grin that she instantly regretted when she say the disappointment and anger on his face.

She reached forward and cupped his cheeks and kissed him. "I'm sorry. That wasn't funny. As someone who was guilty of invading your privacy, I shouldn't be the one to joke, but Wally, Z loves you and she only did it because she….she wanted me to know what a mistake I made. I know it pisses you off, but I'm glad she did. The letter broke my heart Wally. I mean that in a good way. You had spent so much time chipping away at the bullshit barrier I created, and when everything turned to shit I built it right back up again. I'm just terrified of being hurt. There I said it. I can take just about any kind of torture there is, but just not from you. Since I met you, your opinion mattered to me. It's not like I agreed with it all the time, it's just there was something about you that made me want to….I don't know make your proud of me or like me. I sound so f***ing stupid."

It was Wally's turn to bring his lips to hers.

"Yes you do," he said with a smile and as she reached back to swing at him again, he easily caught her hand and brought it to his heart.

"I don't remember everything I said in it, but I remember it being form the heart. That still stands ok? Even the words that we're not going to use ok? Those words that might end up with us in some sort of relationship."

"Well there's no way that's going to happen," she purred.

"Horrible idea," he added and their lips and tongues met once again.

"Artemis I know we are not going to label this, But I would like to see more of you if possible."

"There's not much more you haven't seen already there Kid Naked."

He smiled. "You know what I mean."

"Wally I'd like to, but it's going to be kind of difficult. I'm really busy back East and I won't always have the chance to just drop everything and head out this way."

Wally tried his best to swallow his disappointment and not comment. They both had made it clear there were no commitments involved. Their time together had been extremely enjoyable, and Wally didn't want to ruin it by over analyzing the issue.

"It's ok. I understand. Were both busy."

"I'm glad you understand. I'm going to hit the shower and then let's go get some food. I'm starving and I know you must be too. Can you hand me my bag please?"

Wally searched around and discovered the two laying side by side.

"Which one?"

"The one on the left please. The one on the right stays here. If I'm going to drop everything and come out here more, I'm gonna need my stuff dork. Did you really think I was serious? Man you are out of practice."

Wally hit his head with his palm and rolled his eyes. "I didn't realize we had hit the 'it's ok to screw with each other phase' yet?"

Artemis grinned an evil grin. "Well if it's ok for us to do what we just did, I think we can progress to the next level."

"Suddenly Wally disappeared in a burst of air and Artemis discovered herself back on the bed pinned underneath the naked speedster. "As a scientist I'd like to see what happens when we regress back."

Artemis grinned as she covered their bodies again with the bed sheet. "For science,' she whispered in his ear before kissing it.

Weeks later Artemis was desperately searching for motivation. The archer was exhausted. If she had not had this date on the calendar for her mother, she quite honestly believed she could have stayed in bed the entire weekend. Her additional West Coast activities she had recently been taking part in, as well as her mission and training obligations, had left her stretched extremely thin. However her mother's new apartment needed a lot of work and Artemis had put in a herculean effort convincing her mother it was time for the painting and redecorating to begin. Even Jade had agreed to help. The idea of the three former assassins covered in paint beautifying the apartment they all shared form time to time brought a childish grin to her weary face. The paints, brushes, drop clothes, and replacement dry wall had already been purchased and delivered, along with the sand paper and stain for the cabinets. The new apartment, while in a better area of town and closer to the Gotham Zeta Tubes had been a steal all things considering. Upon entering the apartment, one would know why. The former tenant had literally destroyed the place, but the owner had agreed to the lower rent if the new tenant put the sweat equity into the rental to repair it. The apartment had a lot of potential, just the timing for Artemis could have been slightly better. Her mom never asked for help, which made the opportunity a little more precious and important.

As Artemis stepped out of the Zeta Tube dragging behind two huge duffels of clothes for washing and folding, she turned the corner and almost literally tripped over her awaiting mother.

"Mom! What are you doing out here?"

"Can't a mother meet her daughter? Is there something wrong with that?"

"It's just you don't need to, regardless what you tell me, I know it's really difficult for you to get out this far."

"No it's not, and stop treating me like I can't do things. You know how much I dislike that. Give me one of the duffels, we have a lot of work ahead of us tonight."

Artemis groaned inside, she had at least hoped they would start in the morning. Beside her speedster, sleep was just something else she would have to do without this weekend. She placed one of the duffels on her mom's lap and kept the other one over her shoulder as she pushed her wheelchair the three blocks back to her apartment.

The cargo elevator stopped on the 5th floor and mother and daughter exited and moved to the end of the hallway, the smell of fresh paint permeating the air.

"Did you and Jade already start?"" she asked as she opened the door and stood in disbelief.

The apartment was complexly finished. Trim work and dry wall replaced and repainted. Cabinets sanded and stained. Even the hardwood floors had been refinished. In the den on the coffee table stood a new television, a replacement for the one that had died weeks ago. Artemis walked over to it and immediately recognized the brand and who had been its previous owner

"I went to the store this afternoon and came back to this, "Paula beamed, exceptionally happy with hew new living situation. "Do you have any idea who could have possible done it in such a short period of time?' she asked sarcastically.

Artemis smiled and took out her cell phone and headed towards the fire escape.

"It looks great Mom."

"Yes it does," she smiled.

Artemis stepped on to the metal scaffolding outside and waited for the phone to connect, as a sleepy Wally West answered on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Baywatch?"

"Artemis? Do you know what time it is? Why are you calling me so late? Is everything ok?"

"It's three hours earlier out there dumbass."

Wally chuckled abandoning the sound asleep trick. "What's up?"

"What the hell do you think you were doing breaking into my mom's apartment and …."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do, don't play dumb. No one asked you to…."

"Artemis don't ruin the moment ok? Is she happy?"

"Yes," she sweetly remarked. "She's very happy, and ….so am I."

"Good. I still don't know what you're talking about but I'm glad it all worked out."

"You know I still can't come out there right? We have some other projects we need to finish as well," Artemis sadly added.

"I know. You just sounded really tired and I know it's been…hard for you to come out so much and try to balance your life back there. I just wanted you to know how much I appreciated it…and you. You and your mom just relax this weekend. You guys need some time together."

"What are you going to do?"

The speedster lightly laughed through the phone. "There is a block party going on right now at the quads. I am rocking it hard with some friends from the Physics Lab. I will barely have time to miss you."

"You're at the library aren't you? Kind of quiet for a kegger isn't it?"

"You know me to well. It's a Friday night. Where else would a nerd like me be?"

"We're not keeping the TV Wally."

"My parents had another one in storage at home," he lied "No big. Rent a movie tonight and you and your mom just chill. Do your hair or nails or whatever moms and daughters do."

"Because that's exactly what life at the Crock house is like. Maybe when Jade gets here we can have a bra and panty tickle fight too," she sarcastically threw in, just to tease the red head.

"Just take pictures, that's all I ask. I better run, no pun intended. Have a great weekend and text me if you get bored. Unfortunately I will probably be in this building all weekend."

"I will I promise…and Wally….seriously thanks a lot. The place looks amazing. We never would have finished or made the place look half as nice. You really made my mom very happy."

I still don't know what you're talking about, but for the sake of argument….your welcome."

"Good Night Dork."

"Good Night Artemis"

"Were still not dating."

"Nope no way. Wouldn't think of it," and she swore she could hear him smile all the way across country. She wondered if he could hear hers.

Artemis was sleeping soundly late Monday evening, thanks to the intervention of a certain red head. Her weekend with her mom was much more relaxing than she could have hoped, and the three women spent some rare quality time with each other. Jade had brought Lian along, and being a first time grandmother, Paula Crock was in heaven. Artemis was not due to be back at Mt. Justice for her surveillance rotation until Tuesday afternoon, and aside from a little team business she took care of from home, she was actually enjoying not doing anything, which was a rarity for her. The speedster had not called or texted her since they spoke Friday. She didn't know if he had been too busy, or had decided to give her some space, but either way she appreciated it.

Artemis remained cautious about whatever undefinable thing was happening between her and Wally. She was happy and had not realized how much she had missed him during their time apart. Their chemistry together was undeniable. No one made her feel, laugh, and yes even love like he could. Love she sighed internally. That word had not been used yet and she hoped it would remain unspoken. Love would make all this too real, love would open her heart again to pain and suffering. They both were in a great and comfortable place with each other, but it felt just as wonderful as when they were dating, when they were officially in love and told each other constantly. Why was that different now? The truth was it wasn't, which meant their time apart had been for nothing. Wasted. Unnecessary.

As the phone rang, she expected it to be from California, but when looking at the I.D., all the text said was Priority One.

Artemis sprung out of bed, burst into her mother's room and said her hurried goodbyes. Artemis warned her mom to stay by the phone. If there was a cataclysmic event possible, she needed her mom and sister ready.

The Zeta Tube in the mountain flashed brightly as Artemis stepped into a flurry of activity.

She was immediately greeted by Nightwing.

"Good you here. Evidently Savage has made his move. We're getting reports directly from the League of Savage, Black Adam, Klarion, Ultra Humanite and some other mercenaries setting up some device in the Boston area. We assume it's whatever weapon they have stolen enough material to collect for. Here is the weird thing though, look at this."

As the team loaded up the Bioship, Tigress and Nightwing made their way to the command center, as Mal monitored the action on the center console.

"They seem to be fighting Sportsmaster. The Bioship is prepped, let's go. The League is in route as well. Well know more in a few minutes."

Vandal Savage stood behind the newly created force filed and tinkered with the weapon's casing, as Black Adam and the Ultra Humanite perused Lawrence Crock. Sportsmaster threw several flash grenades at ancient Egyptian trying to temporarily blind him. If he had just enough time, he might be able to enter the city sewer system and find an escape route. As the grenade went off, Crock smiled in satisfaction as he turned and was met with the large hairy fist of the Humanite slamming him directly in the face. It was a powerful blow and knocked Sportsmaster savagely to the ground. Lawrence Crock was a skilled and deadly assassin, but when matched up against three Meta-humans, even he was outmatched.

Black Adam landed angrily on the ground, standing over the prone body of the Shadow Assassin. Humanite joined him, preparing their death blow.

"It's a pity Lawrence. Savage had such high hopes for you in the new order. Your betrayal was unexpected, but easily rectified," Black Adam told his soon to be deceased victim.

Sportsmaster would not close his eyes. He was not afraid of death, but once all his avenues had been closed, he welcomed it.

"Finish it you son of a bitch!" he screamed.

Adam leapt into the air preparing to land with deadly force right on the man's skull, when a blur of blue and red flashed by and Egyptian and slammed him with meteor like force into the ground. The combined strength of Superman and Captain Marvel began striking him, awaiting him to surrender once their combined assault would take its toll.

Above them Dr. Fate and Klarion lit up the sky with a powerful light show of mystic energy only a Lord of Order and Chaos could create. The battle was fierce and evenly matched as they could be heard reciting chant after chant.

Savage smiled though his force shield and continued putting the device together, as his comrades began to fall one by one. Humanite realizing the battle was tilting the other way, began creating an exit strategy just about the time he was greeted by Conner's fist. As he staggered away, Bart grabbed the evolved creature's arm and swung him in a circle at violent speeds, before Blue Beatles construct came slamming down above him, pinning him to the ground.

The team turned as the combined screams Fate and Klarion faded, their mystic battle leading to a stalemate as the two sorcerers collapsed to the ground unconscious.

The Bioship landed and the rest of team quickly exited to join the fray. The two Green Lanterns, along with Wonder Woman made their way Savage and his device. Savage sneered at them as the combined raw power of the three heroes began pummeling his force screen. Once Superman joined the attack, the force shield began to lose its structure and break apart.

Superman was the first to reach in and grab the villain by the throat, only to have Savage's body melt and morph into a different substance and flow away from him. The Man of Steel looked at his hand as the creature rushed away and examined the clay residue left behind. Hal Jordan easily encased the creature, as Clayface began to laugh.

A few blocks away, the camouflaged Zeta Tube came to life and the Atom stepped out and made his way towards the battle zone to inspect the possible explosive device that Savage/Clayface had been constructing.

As the hero walked away and the light from the transit system began to face, a small robotic creature hiding above the tube threw in a small device and quickly scampered away before the glow of the system faded.

Artemis and Nightwing stood over the battered form of Sportsmster as he rubbed the blood and dirt out of his eyes.

"Hello baby girl."

"Hello Lawrence," Tigress disrespectfully replied. "No honor among thieves I see. You must have screwed these guys pretty good for them to have come after you like this."

Lawrence laughed and attempted to get to his feet, as Conner slammed him back to the ground. Artemis knelt down beside her father and laughed.

"Daddy hates to lose doesn't he?"

Lawrence looked up at his daughter with a pained sincerity she could not recall seeing before.

Batman made his way over to the combined force bubble of both Green Lanterns as the liquidly form of Clayface struggled inside.

"Where's Savage?' Batman demanded.

All Clayface replied was maniacal laughter.

"I'll give you one more chance before things get...unpleasant."

Atom walked over to the newly exposed mechanism and pulled out a scanner and began running tests. As Batman joined him, Ray Palmer gave the Dark Knight a worried look. Batman pulled out his own equipment to verify the Atom's readings.

The combined teams stood in bated breath awaiting the results and their next plan of action to disarm the threat.

"It's a fake," Palmer announced.

"What?" Superman asked as he joined them as he scanned the bomb himself in disbelief.

Atom answered, "There's no isotope inside, no detonator. This is just an empty shell. It's giving off a false reading; something preprogrammed, and broadcast to appear on our scanners.

Batman nodded to the Lanterns to begin shrinking the bubble to persuade the creature to talk.

"Talk now!" Batman growled.

"He's not going to talk," Sportsmaster answered.

"I suppose you'll confess to your whole scheme," Tigress said sarcastically.

'Their scheme baby girl, not mine."

The combined heroes joined Nightwing and Tigress as Crock painfully sat up and began to speak.

"I'm an assassin. A damn good one, but I'm not a mass murderer. You know that. They got me involved saying it would be ransom situation. Hold them hostage and all that shit. Pure money job, but once I found out they were actually going to detonate the damn thing, that's when I tried to stop em."

"Bullshit!" Artemis yelled.

"Artemis look at me. I know you hate me and I'm ok with that. You deserve to be punished for betraying the Shadows and your family, and that day's coming but. I don't want to kill you. Never have and never will, but those mothersf***ers over there want to kill millions of people."

"The bomb's a fake Crock," Nightwing coldly announced.

"I heard them talking about a second one. Someplace out West. I bet you dumbasses followed the wrong trail. Amateurs," he laughed. "I'd lay money out there is where the real one is."

"Bullshit. Don't waste your time," Artemis spit. "This piece of shit has never done anything that's not self-serving in his entire life."

"I don't want millions of people's blood on my hands baby girl. Have your little green friend read my mind if you don't believe me."

Megan stood next to Tigress cautiously as her eyes began to glow. Sportsmaster's ability to reflect a mind scan was well known, but this time Crock closed his eyes in pain and opened his mind. Megan's expression turned to horror. She didn't have to say another word.

Batman flipped open his communicator and was about to contact the watchtower, when the Martian Manhunter broke in

"Batman spoke first. "J'onn I need you to do a radiation scan. The entire West Coast."

"Batman, the Zeta Transit System has been sabotaged. Ray was lucky he finished transporting before it went down. Whatever did it rewrote the entire system's software. It will take days to debug it. The remaining League member's here are trapped until you can get us a ship.

Batman grimaced, but remained focused. "J'onn scan now. Look for medium to high levels of the Plutonium X Isotope. Disregard any reading you see out here. Compare it to the scans uploaded form the Batcave. Regardless of the strength, the radiation signature will stand out."

J'onn complied and announced. "California, greater San Francisco area."

Superman drew closer and joined the conversation

"J'onn dispatch the secondary team. Send everyone left from the Hall of Justice and the Watchtower out there immediately."

Batman coldly announced. "He can't. You, Flash and the Lanterns need to leave immediately. After clean up and securing the prisoners we'll follow directly. Hurry"

Superman nodded and the mentioned heroes left the scene immediately as the Boston Meta-Human Tactical Teams began to arrive,

Batman was the ultimate strategist, but was also a realist. Without knowing all the factors involved, his gut told him they would not arrive in time.

Tigress and Nightwing came over to Dark Knight. "This was all a setup. The West Coast was always the intended target?" Nightwing's frustration apparent.

"At this point I have no idea. Logically this would have been the prime target, but Savage doesn't always think logically. There is something missing her, but I'll figure it out. Gather your team and prepare to leave immediately. A few Leaguers will help secure the prisoners into proper holding facilities along with the Boston PD,

"What about him?" Artemis disgustedly pointed to her father.

"We have nothing on him. There is no concrete evidence linking him to this, and if authorities did apprehend him, it would be thrown out in courts just as fast. Interpol and U.S. authorities have no active warrants for him. We cut him loose."

Crock got to his feet. "Be careful out there baby girl. These sick f***s aren't playing. Watch your back."

She nodded and turned away. She would never trust her father and farther than she could throw his sorry ass, but the way he spoke to her had a rare sincerity to it. It would not affect the anger and hatred she felt for the man, but she would file it away to be considered another day.

Moments later as the Bioship was in route, Batman signaled for an open channel inside the cabin. "The National Weather Service is currently tracking a possible Pacific Tropical Cyclone. It's an incredibly rare event. Northern California, as well as Oregon, and Washington State are under a Tropical Storm watch that could be upgraded at any time. I suspect the timing of Savage's plan is no coincidence."

"What do we do now?" Tigress urgently asked.

"I have a team in place out there already. I didn't like having all our resources in one place. They have already been apprised of our situation, what to look for, and are in route as we speak. Once they find Savage and assess the situation, we'll no more and formulate a plan at that time."

Before the channel closed Artemis asked a question she was afraid she already knew the answer to. "Who is your team out there?"

Batman coldly answered. "The Arrows, the newest Lantern Rayner, Blue Devil and ….the new Flash."

Artemis cursed the Dark Knight silently as the Bioship screamed through the sky. "Wally," she painfully whispered to herself. "God no."


	13. Zero Hour

_Author's Note. Ok my scientific knowledge only goes as far as Wikipedia will take me. Any holes in logic you're just going to have to forgive. This is going to be it for a while. I have the next chapters plotted out, but our show finally returns and I am so damn ready. I have faith they won't disappoint. This chapter was really hard to write and balance, I would really appreciate your reviews, what you liked and disliked, that sort of thing. If you could find the time it would be great. Enjoy this weekend and I will try to update before too long. _

Zero Hour

Tropical storms and hurricanes on the West Coast were rare but not unheard of. The last storm to hit Northern California dated back to 1939, but with advent of technology's ability to measure and track global warming, and the ambient temperature of the oceans on the rise, the risk of stronger tropical storms and cyclones were now ones people near the Pacific hade to prepare for.

The National Weather Service had been watching this front, carefully predicting it would stay out at sea, but in the last few hours it took a sudden turn and headed eastward. Landfall was predicted shortly thereafter. The local branch of the National Guard had already been called out, and a combination of Army personnel and Red Cross volunteers had already begun the process of bagging and building the sand filled retaining walls. As dark gray skies opened up to howling winds and rain, it was easy for the caravan of black unmarked Humvees to pull into the downtown area of greater San Francisco relatively unnoticed. Local policeman were setting up emergency exit routes through the crowded streets as the local businesses and downtown residents swiftly but calmly made their out of the city.

As Sgt. Chris Baker made his way over to the first unmarked Humvee that was blocking the outgoing vehicles, the last thing he expected was a plasma rifle pointed directly at his chest. That's when all hell broke loose.

When Wally West arrived in the downtown area, the city was a war zone. Armed mercenaries, most likely League of Shadows operatives were engaged with a severely outgunned National Guard regiment. The military personnel were strictly on a humanitarian relief effort, and were armed with just the most basic of armaments, while the mercenaries were stocked to the teeth with plasma rifles and grenade launchers.

Wally was given just the most basic rundown by Batman the night before, never expecting any of his instructions to come to fruition. He and a few others were just going to be backup in the event of any secondary skirmishes that might be used as a distraction, while the combined might of the Justice League and the Titans sought to protect the likely targets of the heavily populated Eastern seaboard cities from the threat of a Weapons of Mass Destruction.

This was not supposed to be happening here, and yet here it was, unfolding before him. Wally adjusted the goggles inserted into the lens of his crimson cowl looking for an energy signature that would indicate the existence of the radioactive isotope used for the bomb. There were strong traces of an element he did not recognize on the far side of the city block. As another explosion erupted about a 100 yards in front of them, the Flash realized there were military and civilian personnel pinned down by the mercenaries' fire. Wally glanced around trying to figure a plan of rescue, when through the howling rain a green glow pierced the otherwise gray sky. Streams of pure emerald energy shot out towards the Shadow operatives, blasting them forcibly against the armored personnel carriers they arrived in, as well as several brick buildings and other structures. The remaining mercenaries evacuated for more fortified firing positions as the momentary reprieve allowed the residents and personnel to run for cover.

Wally searched for the source of the blasts, knowing full well their origin. The Green Lantern effortlessly landed next to the rain soaked speedster.

"Wally", Kyle Rayner announced extending his hand.

"Kyle, man am I glad to see you," he replied shaking the Lantern's hand.

The two men had only met briefly a handful of times, but they both recognized the history and legacy they carried as Flashes and Lanterns whose mentors had fought side by side for years. Their bond was instant.

"What have you got?"

"Over their Kyle, about 500 yards due west, I'm getting some really weird radiation signatures. I've never seen anything like it before, but I think it's the Plutonium X isotope everyone's been worried about. I'm really out of my depth here. Once Dr. Palmer gets here, we'll have a better idea what were up against."

"Wally they're not coming."

"Who's not?" the speedster nervously asked.

"Everyone," Lantern discouragedly answered.

"The Zeta Transit System was sabotaged. Superman, the Lanterns, and a few other high speed guys are one their way, but it might take hours. Boston was distraction; The West Coast was the target all along. The Arrows are the closest backups and they're still in Star City last I heard. Blue Devil is near the southern California/Mexican border, but without Zeta travel..."

"We're on our own," Wally answered grimly

"Yep," Kyle agreed.

"Shit," was the speedster only reply as a knot formed in his throat.

Artemis and the Titans were crossing the Massachusetts border as they watched Superman and the Lanterns fly off miles in front of them. The Bioship could keep a comparable velocity, but they might as well be across the ocean. The two Flashes quickly overtook the heroes, but the upcoming terrain was likely to slow them down, and if they reached California before everyone else, would it be in time.

Other than pursuing the most direct route to California, Artemis felt useless. Her stomach burned at the thought of what a detonation would do to that area, the millions of people that would die instantly. How had the League been so duped? How had Savage caught everyone so unprepared? The misdirection had been so complete, even her father had been left in the dark. Despite the hate she felt for almost every fiber of his being, Artemis respected her father's intelligence and cunning.

If he had been duped, how in the hell was her team supposed to have known. She desperately tried to keep her mind busy avoiding the subject that gnawed at her heart. Wally was out there. Her Wally. Basically alone, completely unprepared, facing a threat the entire league had been preparing to fight in Boston. He had left the life to create a new future for himself, and now he'd been thrust back into that life with millions of people unknowingly counting on him. She did not know how, but she would make it out there and fight by his side or die trying.

"They storm is no coincidence Wally stated flatly. This was the distraction he needed to come in under the radar."

The duo made their way towards the radiation signature. Off in the distance they saw him. Protected inside a glowing force shield, he carefully constructed what they assume to be the bomb.

"Is that him?" Kyle asked.

"Yep. The bad haircut and Victorian clothes are usually a dead giveaway."

"I don't get it. He's going to kill millions and himself in the process. Nothing in the league personality profile I read coming over indicated he had a martyr complex."

"He's not suicidal, he's immortal Kyle. This detonation will blow him to pieces, and then his body will slowly reform itself. Kind of a cool process really if he wasn't some dickhead bent on world domination."

"We have to get him out of that shield to gain access to the bomb, and I guess that's going to be tricky. Any ideas?"

"I've been trying to contact Batman and Nightwing, but this storm is making it impossible. I suppose we could just knock," Wally chuckled.

Kyle smiled. "I like the sound of that. What do you have in mind?"

Moments later with a plan in place, they approached the sphere; Savage gave them little attention and continued his work. "The League just loves sending children after me don't they?" he smiled as he momentarily paused his construction. "Not even courteous enough to send a real Flash or Green Lantern to face me. Ah no matter."

"I don't suppose you'd like to come out of your little bubble and find out how real we are would you Vandal?" The Lantern said as irritatingly challenging as possible.

"Perhaps later. I still have tasks to attend to. Run away now children. You and your friend might actually be able to survive the blast if you leave now, but the millions of sheep you leave behind won't be so fortunate. I'm sure they'll forgive you one day."

Wally knew verbally sparing with him was fruitless, but it allowed Kyle the time to get in position to begin the attack. From a distance over a thousand feet above them, the Green Lantern focused all his will power into the tightest stream he could. Laser scalpel thin. He yelled for Wally and the speedster placed his hand on the force shield, as the electrical feedback began pumping through his gloves. The pain was tolerable, but swiftly becoming unbearable as Wally began vibrating his hands across the surface. The speedster had never been completely successful in vibrating his molecules through solid substances like his uncle and cousin could, but this might be the next best thing. As his hands became blurs across the charged surface, the speed he was moving began exciting the electrons forming the shield. Once this process was underway, Kyle let go a compressed burst of pure energy that struck the shied with incredible force. The shield began to flicker and fade, and both heroes knew instantly that their teamwork was up to something. This success did not go unnoticed by the immortal as he calmly stated in a low voice, "Phase 2."

Wally continued his vibrations carefully avoiding the very powerful green energy beginning to pierce the bubble inches away, when he thought he heard Kyle scream his name over the wailing wind. He moved to another side of the force field to continue his part of the assault when it hit him. All 450 lbs. of him.

Dr. Mark Desmond, or as he was now known as Blockbuster, grabbed the speedster by the arm so swiftly even someone as fast as Wally had no time to react to. The creatures grip was like steel, and he viciously swung the helpless speedster to the ground repeatedly until they both heard something crack. Pain seared through Wally's body as his misshapen arm was bent in angles it was not supposed to. Blockbuster let out an inhuman laugh as he released the scarlet figure and threw him on the pavement writhing in pain. Wally could not see, his vision obscured with blinding flashes of light from the beating he just endured. He tried to focus but he couldn't catch his breath. The pain was winning. He desperately searched what field of vision he had available when he recognized the green hue of the Lantern enveloping the creature.

Kyle, while not having the experience of the other Green Lanterns of this sector was still no rookie. He had earned his stripes. A ring was not given to a host until they were ready, and Kyle was. He created a vice like construct that wrapped around the creature and began to tighten. Blockbuster struggled mightily and the Lantern began to feel the strain. He was trying to multitask keeping an eye on Savage, making sure The Flash had a chance to move away, and restraining the powerful monster in form of him.

Wally struggled to his feet when once again, as his equilibrium failed him and fell to the ground jarring his injured body.

Kyle jerked his head around when he heard Wally's scream, concerned for not only the speedsters safety, but also the possibility of a new threat on his flank when Blockbuster saw his chance. That momentary lack of focus was all it needed to push his way through the construct and strike Kyle in the back of the head. Hard. The Lantern was thrown across the street smashing against the National Guard Humvees parked there. Kyle fought to remain conscious as the creature swiftly pulled him form the wreckage and began beating him mercilessly. All Lanterns rings had a built end redundancy programmed into them to keep even the most basic shield surrounding their hosts. This protected them in the void of outer space as well as the harsh environments on the many planets they were ordered to protect. That redundancy was the only thinking keeping Kyle Rayner alive right now.

Blow after blow drove Kyle farther into the ground. He knelt down absorbing every strike as the creature bellowed in victory. As the monster prepared his death blow, a projectile landed directly into its large maw, an arrow to be precise, one with a blinking red indicator light on a short countdown. Seconds later the explosive detonated in the creature's mouth as it screamed and toppled over.

Blockbuster growled in pain, holding his head like it was about to come off his shoulders. Arrow's shot had been deadly, and another being would not have survived, but Dr. Desmond's mutated form was built to survive.

Kyle looked up on the two story building adjacent to the prone form of the creature, and familiar figure of Red Arrow saluted and made his way down to him. Arrow and Lantern stood side by side at the ready, trying to determine their next move as Desmond began to stumble to his feet when the prone form of the Flash leaned his head up and spoke in low pain filled voice. "He can't swim."

Both men smiled and Kyle knew exactly what he had to do.

He was concussed, that he was sure of, but he still felt he could battle through the haze and from a very simple construct that wouldn't tax his body or his willpower a great deal. In front of the two men appeared a glowing green catapult.

Roy show an arrow at the creature with a steel tensile line attached to it. He pulled as hard as he could and directed the off balance and disoriented creature into the waiting scoop. With a satisfied smile, Kyle mentally unlatched the mechanism and within seconds Blockbuster was seen flying hundreds of yards in the air out towards the bay.

The creature would most likely sink to the bottom, too heavy to tread water. If it drowned on the bottom of the Bay was none of the heroes concerns at the moment. Wally finally made it to his feet and joined the other two heroes as the prepared for the next phase of the battle to begin.

Roy prepared a typically smart ass comment to the two heroes until he saw the condition of Wally's arm. Roy looked at him with grim determination as Wally silently nodded. Kyle stood confused watching the two men's nonverbal communication, when Roy suddenly grabbed Wally's arm and forcibly manipulated it in multiple directions causing the speedster to drop to his knees.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Kyle screamed pushing Arrow away from his fallen teammate.

"Setting it. His accelerated healing factor is about to kick in and if I don't set it, the bone is going to heal in all sort of jacked up directions."

The two men bent down and lifted Wally to his feet as he carefully stood upright, silent tears rolling down his face that were ignored out of respect.

The three men turned towards the form of Savage completely ignoring the heroes, as he continued constructing the device behind the safety of the force shield.

"So what's the plan?" Roy asked.

"We were kinda hoping you had one," Wally quipped as he noticed the blood begging to drip form Kyle's ears.

"Kyle are you ok?" and the Lantern rubbed his fingers over his lobes detecting the warm liquid coming from them. "I'll be fine, what now?"

Roy answered. "All com channels are still down here. Ollie never made it out of Star City, but he is working with Mal and J'onn to get something open. The last I heard Superman, Flash, and the Lanterns were approaching the Midwest, but they are still a long way's away. Let's face it boys, it's up to us. So seriously, throw out any ideas, no matter how stupid."

"Kyle's ring was making a little headway breaking through the field with me disputing the surface, but we'd need a lot more power. Plus I think he is holding the detonator. We have to get him out of the shield, move the bomb, and pry the plunger out of his hands before the whole damn city explodes. No big," the speedster chuckled.

The three men turned away from each other, running different scenarios through their minds. Wally desperately tried not to think of Artemis and focus on the task at hand, the thought of never seeing her again too hard to bear. With no com channel available to contact her, and the millions of San Franciscans at risk, his hyper accelerated could have easily become unfocused in a multitude of directions, so he locked in on the only option that might provide a solution. Science, more specifically Physics.

"Ok here me out," Wally began pacing around, trying to piece together a plan, realizing that much of the terminology and meaning he was about to use would be lost on his comrades. "Flash can vibrate his molecules through solid objects, I can't do that. I've tried and almost made it a couple of times, but mostly ended up with a concussion, but that field out there is not solid. The Uncertainty Principle states…," and with the blank look on their faces, Wally immediately realized they had no idea where he was going.

"Ok scratch that, maybe the Double-Slit experiment would work, if I can speed up my quantum signature while interfering with the photons and electrons surrounding the shield…..," and the speedster was once again faced with empty expressions. "Oh for Christ sake, has either one of you ever seen a Star Trek episode. Geez".

He took a deep breath and began again dumbing it down the best he could. "I am going to try to hit my top speed, simultaneously vibrating my body, while disrupting the energy pattern of the shield. If it was a solid object, I'd probably be screwed, but this is an energy construct, like what your ring does Kyle, and it's based on light. Light has photons that can be manipulated. If I accelerate them and vibrate at my top speed, I hate to use the word theoretically, but I should be able to punch right through that thing and disrupt it long enough for Kyle to move the weapon and Roy you get that detonator. You'll have just a few seconds, so don't screw around."

Roy scratched his head. "I have no idea what you just said except for that last part, but do you really think you can pull it off? What happens if it doesn't work?"

"Then I go splat and it's your problem."

"Sorry I asked."

"How do we start?" Kyle asked.

"I need a good running start, but all these damn hills are going to make it hard." Wally glanced around looking for the best route as his eyes followed the city scape looking for the clearest path, and that's when he saw it. The contours of the tallest building in San Francisco. The Transamerica Pyramid.

"You guys are going to think I've lost my mind, but if I get to the top of the Transamerica building over there and follow the curvature down, gravity and my speed might just get me fast enough. Kyle I'd need a small ramp for the last few floors and then you'd need to be ready to shield they bomb once Savage is out."

Arrow and Lantern did look at him like he was insane, but with a lack of any alternative they had to go with it.

"What can I do?" Roy asked, clearly uncomfortable with his status as the only person there without superhuman abilities.

"I don't know," Wally scratched his head. "Maybe a smoke screen around the bubble so he doesn't see me coming."

"Done!" and as Roy was about to run and get in position, he turned to the speedster with an encouraging glance. "You can do this."

Wally took a deep breath trying to ignore the pain in his shoulder and arm, realizing Kyle was not in much better shape. "Do you think you can get me to the top?" he asked the Lantern.

Kyle wiped the blood form his head and nodded. An emerald platform appeared and they were on their way to 1065 feet.

Once on top the building, Wally immediately regretted his decision. On a normal day the winds would be strong enough at that height, but today was incredibly dangerous. Wally immediately dropped to his hands and knees and crawled out along the level surface of the flat overhand just below the triangular top of the building.

Kyle signaled him that he was in position and Wally paused for a moment and prayed. Keeping his momentum attached to the building was going to be nearly impossible, but if he was lucky enough get traction, he would still have to worry about speeding up his body internally while disrupting the photons of the force field before he entered it.

It was going to be nearly impossible, but he had no choice. He had tried several times to get through the distortion to contact the Titans, to talk to her. She would have calmed him, she would have believed in him. Despite being surrounded by millions of people, he felt utterly alone. Wally was sure his other two teammates felt the same way. He wished he had talked to his mother and father before today, but he was done with regrets. It was time. Wally closed his eyes, searching deep down for the energy and power all Flashes shared. He hoped he was focused enough to take what the speed force would provide. His only other time successfully connecting with that energy field was in this same city months ago. He hoped that was good omen. He took a step off the landing and disappeared in a trail of lightning.

Roy was in position; around 50 yards form Savage when he saw the green ramp form. Kyle was halfway between the Transamerica Building and Vandal's force field, when his ring created the construct. . The Green Lanterns' job was almost going to be as difficult as Wally's. Within seconds he would have to mentally dissemble his first construct, while simultaneously creating another to move the bomb away from Savage, seconds after Wally would hopefully have penetrated the energy field.

Roy could not believe the fate of this city was up to the three of them. He remembered how badly he and Wally had wanted to join The League, and how crushed he was when he realized their terms. Despite the invitation to join the covert team of sidekicks, he decided the solo route was his best and only option, and he had never regretted it. Until now. Very few times had so many counted on him, and despite the deadly circumstances he was glad to have Wally and Kyle at his side, even if it might be for the last time.

One minute Roy was standing; bow at the ready and the next minute he was on the ground looking at the dark clouds above him. His ears were ringing as he looked from the glowing and partially melted façade of the Transamerica Building where Wally's speed had torn into its the structure, to the from of Vandal Savage bouncing across the pavement away from the device he had seconds earlier been constructing.

Red Arrow had no time to think as he jumped to his feet and ran over to the immortal and began prying the small detonator out of his hand. The archer had no idea if the weapon had been fully armed yet or not, but he would not take any chances. He removed the sharpest arrow form his quiver and shoved it forcefully into the upper arm of Savage, as it finally caused the appropriate muscle response to release the small detonator. Roy swiftly retrieved it and threw it yards away from them both, as Savage furiously grabbed the archer pinning him underneath the immortal as he began pummeling him.

"Insect, do you really think you have changed anything in the slightest. Your League is the primary reason mankind has been stagnant in their evolution. One of your many weaknesses is you see protecting these sheep as moral absolutes, when in reality you are the cause of their misery. They will never be anything more than they right now are due to your intervention, one that I plan on eliminating at this moment."

Savage had years of experience on Red Arrow, but Roy had youth, training, and attitude. He quickly kicked the villain off of him and got himself into a fighting stance.

"I might not make it out of here alive," he hissed "but at least I will go to my grave with the satisfaction of knowing I kicked your old ass til the end."

Savage barreled into the archer, grabbing him by the throat as Roy connected squarely in Savage's nose and jaw. The wound on Savage's arm had already begun to heal as Roy began to doubt that he would be able to subdue this man by himself. Suddenly he saw the dark green uniformed arm make its way around Vandals neck forming a forearm choke hold. The immortal released the archer and struggled trying to remove Kyle's hold, when Roy went to work on him. Blow after blow stuck furiously as the combination of the two assaults finally took its toll. Immortal or not, a person could only take so much punishment before finally losing consciousness.

Savage fell flat on his face, out like a light. National Guard Armored Personnel ran over to restrain him, as Kyle and Roy made their way over the weapon and began examining it.

In a muffled echo, Wally heard his name being called over and over again. The voice became louder and clearer as the sensation of rain running down the speedsters face inside his cowl finally brought him back to consciousness.

"I…I did it!" Wally said in genuine surprise.

"You did great, but we need you up at out em now," Roy urgently requested

The casing of the weapon was already removed as Wally stumbled over to join Kyle, who was already in deep conversation with The Atom and Batman having finally broken through the storm's distortion.

"He's here now Atom," Kyle stated as the groggy speedster turned on his earpiece.

"Wally you there? Can you hear me?"

"I'm here Doc."

"Kyle has verified this thing is carrying the Plutonium X isotope. I need you to find the power source; I can't describe to Kyle what we are looking for."

Wally acknowledged him and before glancing in, he turned on his cowl lenses that had replaced the goggles of his old costume and activated the infrared red visual settings. He traced the wires until he found the glowing source they all ran into.

"Got it!" he said, turning the lenses back off into a normal settings.

"How many wires Wally?"

'Five total, including the ground wire."

There was a long pause on the other end as Ray hesitated.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm holding them in my fingers right now."

"Wally do you see a numerical keypad inside? It should be somewhere above the power source with a digital readout above it."

"Yeah I see it."

"What does the readout say?"

"Nothing it's not lit up at all."

"Hit #411*. What does it say now?"

"9:50" Wally stated and then his voice panicked. "Shit! It's counting down!"

Batman solemnly spoke. "It can't be disarmed. That was its failsafe."

There was only a few seconds of silence as everyone acknowledged what needed to be done.

"I suppose it's wishful thinking that Superman is seven minutes outside of the city?" Kyle said in a gallows humor manner.

"No he's not," Batman said tersely.

Kyle and Wally immediately locked eyes. The two had truly only gotten to know each other within the last few hours, but their nonverbal communication was spot on, they just had come to different conclusions.

"I can get out of the city," Kyle blurted out. "I can have it in the ocean in a few minutes."

Wally sighed. "No you can't. You can barely stand, and just getting out of the city is not enough. It's got a blast radius you have to worry about. How large is it Ray?"

About twenty miles," the physicist answered regretfully, "and that's counting on it being submerged to cancel out the fallout."

The three men felt their hearts sink.

"I can still do it Wally I'm not afraid."

"I know you're not Kyle. I've been around Green Lanterns almost my whole life, I know what it takes for you guys to get those rings, but you know I'm the only choice."

"How do you think you can do this with a broken arm?" Kyle angrily questioned.

"Good thing I run on my feet instead. The main mechanism is not all that big. Just remove the core and strap it to my back. I know you National Guard boys have to have some chains or something, "as the soldiers surrounding them hurriedly ran towards the undamaged vehicles and retrieved them.

"This things still heavy as shit," Roy added as he guided the core with Kyle's help near Wally's shoulders. The chains were attached and Wally felt the full weight and the heat set against his back.

"How are you going to get this thing off with a bad wing?" Roy asked.

"Break the chains here and here, and connect them with S hooks, when I hit the safe zone I'll just pop em loose and wiggle out of them. If Houdini can do it, so can I," he grinned.

Everyone knew Wally was throwing out his best false bravado. He was terrified. They all were, but this was one of the risks that came with the mask. This was the ultimate sacrifice and burden a hero knew one day he or she might have to face.

"Is there anything else I can do?" Kyle asked.

"Can you lay down something for me to run on? It's going to be hard to get up to speed in such a short distance to run on water carrying this extra weight."

Kyle immediately knew what was needed. The three men looked at each other and silently nodded. There were no words left to say, just duty.

Wally ran back into the heart of the city, away from the Bay that connected the cities of Oakland and San Francisco then immediately turned and shot out towards the Golden Gate and the open waters of the Pacific. Kyle followed above overhead as the speedster began to pull away from him. His ring was nearing its last charge and he needed the construct to be a good one. As his ring shimmered, an emerald burst of energy shot out and green platform formed, stretching out as far as the eye could see above the choppy waters being stirred by the storm pounding the coast.

The weight from the weapon dug deep into Wally's back. He could feel the heat emanating form it, but realized cancer was the least of his worries at the moment. The chains were aggravating his already injured shoulder and arm. Though Roy had set his broken bone correctly, it was nowhere near knitting back together and the weight he carried only inhibited the process.

Due to Kyle proficiency with the power ring, Wally seamlessly made the transition from land to construct at a blinding speed. As the emerald road ran out, Wally winced as his feet met the surface of the water. He closed his eyes upon contact but discovered his increased mass did not inhibit his ability to stay on the surface of the water. A small ounce of relief washed over him, as two of the three major hurdles had been overcome. He prayed he would be successful on the last one as well. He realized he shouldn't have made it this far, but pessimism was not going to help anything.

On board the BioShip the interference finally faded and Nightwing was able to contact Batman who was now miles ahead of the Titans onboard his powerful jet.

Nightwing had his headphones on to keep the two men's conversation private. There was no use in causing panic among the young heroes. They had already faced death once today, and Dick feared that too much information might damage their already fragile psyches.

Artemis watched every nuance of Nightwing's expression as he spoke with his mentor. He was quiet for a moment as he absorbed the information Batman relayed. He looked at Artemis with shock and disbelief when Jamie was finally able to connect to the CNN satellite feed coming from San Francisco. "Guy's you need to see this."

Artemis stood at the screen, recognizing the Asian reporter from the San Francisco Earthquake coverage as she reported from Point Reyes. Initially Linda Park had been doing live reports from the outskirts of the city covering the Tropical Strom now assigned the designation Matthew. The National Weather Service in conjunction with WKGO, monitored the fine line the storm followed between the possibilities of cyclone to hurricane. When the local affiliate became aware of a possible terrorist threat within her borders, the feeds were switched between, local citizens panicking and trying to leave the city, to the three heroes bravely battling the unknown villain assembling what experts believed to be a WMD.

"According to sources near the battle zone, one man has been apprehended and what our science editor is theorizing as the explosive core of the weapon has been strapped on to the Flash as he fiercely makes his way out of the city with the assistance of the Green Lantern. There is no confirmation of what he is carrying, but he has crossed under the Golden Gate and heading out to open seas. All San Franciscan are advised to seek shelter on high ground and pray that the scarlet speedster can save the city in time. Reporting from the Point Reyes National Seashore, this is Linda Park WKGO news."

Panning away from the reporter, Mad Dog Harrison filmed the image of the speeding scarlet figure trailed by streaks of crimson and lightning, running out to sea. That was his final shot as he shut down the camera and he and Linda ran to the news van and began driving away from the bay area seeking higher ground.

Turbulent emotions flowed through the young reporter as a tear rolled down her cheek due to both her fear and admiration.

"How do you think he does it Marvin? Risks his life for millions of people he will never know?"

"I don't know kid, but I am thankful to God he and guys like him do it. You can't put bravery like that into words. They're heroes, that's really all you can say. Listen I have no idea if that thing is going to go off or not, but we need to get away from the Bay regardless."

He put his hand on her shoulder. "That was a great closing Linda, You did good kid. I'm glad I was with you to film it." She hugged her cameramen as he reckless sped through the hills.

"Thanks Marvin." she whispered as she wiped her eyes. She had hoped one day she might have had the chance to meet the hero, not interview him, but actually meet the man behind the mask. Who knows where it could have led. As their van furiously made its way back towards the city, Linda feared that would that might be the last time she would see him, or maybe anyone for that matter.

Artemis felt her throat close as the report ended. She quickly moved next to Nightwing on the com center as he unspokenly entered the frequency assigned to Wally West,

"Wally? Wally can you hear me?" crackled through the speakers inside his earpiece. Relief washed over the speedster as he heard her voice.

"Babe I'm so damn glad you got through." she heard as his voice began to crack.

Artemis's normal response would have been to chastise him for his recklessness, but she knew better of it this time. A long time ago she had asked Wally why he never wanted to be a team leader. His response was he would never be able to ask his friends to put their lives at risk if it was something he could do himself. That answer was on display at this moment.

Dick joined the conversation. "You ok?"

Wally couldn't help but laugh as he and his best friend realized the phrasing. "All things considering. What's my time?"

"You have just under 5 minutes," Dick calmly responded.

"Distance?"

"You need another 12 miles from the city and then at least 18 for you? There is a Navy carrier group 30 miles from your position. You can drop the bomb and head due south. They can pick you up."

"Dick there is no way I can make it that far. I'm spent and even if I did, I can't swim with this arm waiting for them to get in range. Once I drop this thing. I'm going to have to turn back."

"You're worried about the turn," Dick responded.

"Yeah."

Artemis took of her mic and angrily interrupted. "What are you two talking about?"

Dick muted the channel momentarily. "He is going to have to cut his speed in half to make the turn. Otherwise he will add minutes and miles to his run back. It's something he can do pretty easily on ground, just not on water. He's worried he won't make it."

Dick turned the mic back on as Jamie changed the view screen form the cable feed to a NORAD map of the California and the Pacific. Axis points were entered that overlapped the active map showing ground zero, blast radius, and Wally's position.

Speaking over the howl of the wind Wally struggled to keep his composure. "Dick….I'm sorry. I'm sorry shut you out. I forgave you a long time ago; I just didn't know how to tell you. You're my best friend. Nothing is ever going to change that ok?"

Artemis screamed through the mic. "Wally stop it! Stop talking like that."

Dick quickly jumped back in, "Wally you're at the drop point. Do it!"

The speedster struggled with the hook, but finally removed it from the adjoined chains. He dipped his bad shoulder as his body screamed in pain. He concentrated not to stop moving as the other chain slipped off and the core dropped into the ocean. He had been running this entire time straight into the storm, and as he slowed his momentum to begin the turn, he could feel the gale force winds at his back, giving him the smallest bit of encouragement that it might give him the boost he needed. He was exhausted, with no fuel back up. No protein or energy bars to assist. He was running on pure adrenaline, and it was giving out.

"I'm really scared Artemis," she heard him struggle out.

She responded no longer caring who heard her compassion and feelings she tried so hard to protect. "I know you are baby. You're going to do this. You're going make it; do you hear me Wally West? You just keep running and don't look back. That's what Flashes do, they never stop."

His voice began to weaken.

"You know were still not dating."

Artemis wiped the tears from her eyes and she cleared her voice. "Absolutely not. Horrible idea," she whispered.

"Now get back to shore. You and I have plans this weekend, do you hear me. I'll kick your ass if you're late."

"Artemis I need you to know how much I lo..."

"Detonation!" Jamie yelled as the NORAD map showed a bright burst.

"Wally are you still there? Talk to me! Wally! she screamed.

There open channel responded with nothing but static.


	14. The Fate of a Hero

_Authors note: We are nearing the end and I really want to thank everyone who has followed the story. I know you are supposed to write for yourself, but reading your reviews and critiques have made this very rewarding. Still a chapter or two left, so as always R & R and thanks again. On a quick side note, I have to be honest I was a little underwhelmed with the return of YJ. I read that Weisman stated that the show, when broken down to its core, was always about the original six characters. Guess I was a little disappointed that Artemis's death wasn't more in the forefront. I'm sure they will make it right. What do you guys think? Anyway thanks again.._

The Fate of a Hero

Superman was the first to arrive in the downtown area. As he sped through the city, off in the distance he could see the signature mushroom cloud of a nuclear detonation. The violent eruption had blown a hole in the storm system. He was relived in the knowledge that the device having been submerged, would keep most of the particles associated with the isotope back into the ocean. The clean-up would be difficult, but the alternative would have been unthinkable.

While the danger of the detonation had been avoided, San Francisco still faced an emergency situation with the tsunamis currently pounding the city. Due to the intervention of the National Weather Service, San Franciscans and several emergency agencies had already been prepared for the chance of severe weather and flooding, but not tidal waves due to nuclear detonation. Off in the distance an emerald glow wrapped around the business and retail district of downtown in what the Man of Steel hoped to be due to the intervention of Kyle Rayner, but the bay and shipping districts were without protection. Most ships had been secured for hurricane winds and rough seas, but not for what was hitting them now. Several warehouses and business had already been destroyed, and ships were overturned and washed up on the docks and beaches. Little could be done about the damage at this point, so Superman could only investigate the area for survivors and those trapped under the collapsed structures. He used his uniquely enhanced vision to scan through the debris looking for heat signatures and skeletal structures. The Man of Steel came across large groups of dock workers and fisherman who immediately waved him off indicating they were ok, or had the situation under control. Seventy-five yards ahead he saw a large gathering of men pulling debris away from a large two story structure in what appeared to be a rescue operation. Superman immediately shot down in that direction as he finally realized who the men were trying to reach. At least 40 feet in the air, the limp body of the Scarlet Speedster dangled from the collapsing structure of the Pacific Rim Shipping Company, a large piece of rebar impaled completely through his rib cage, trapping him above the rescue efforts.

As Hal Jordan and John Stewart approached the city limits, their destination could not have been clearer. With no need for their rings to search the city, they followed the green power signature that was currently holding the ocean at bay the best it could behind an emerald construct shaped like sandbags forming a wall around the oncoming waters. On the ground Kyle Rayner knelt backwards, left hand supporting his ring hand, as he endeavored to maintain his will power and construct. Dried blood caked his head and neck, and he was struggling to remain upright, as the wall above him continued to flicker. The two Green Lanterns landed beside their comrade and immediately created a secondary wall behind Kyle's as he body and consciousness began to give out. Kyle had singlehandedly insulated the downtown area from a majority of the damage it could have incurred. The strain Hal currently felt was immense, and he stood in awe of the younger Lantern for being able to maintain it on his own for so long.

"We got this Kyle. Shut it down. You did good kid"

No sooner had Hal Jordan spoke, then the young Lantern's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed face first into the asphalt.

On board the Bioship it was deathly quiet, aside from the navigational instruments and their readouts. Nightwing and Tigress sat in stunned silence, neither one putting their fear into words.

The com channel remained open to the Justice League Emergency Frequency as Batman sent out orders to the arriving League members. The damage to the city had been considerable, but to this point the loss of life was relatively small. The injury reports flooding into the local hospitals were overwhelming, and several outlining hospitals and clinics began receiving the non-life threatening wounded.

Artemis had tuned out much of the radio chatter, lost in her thoughts and emotions. She was numb. Numb and angry. She had no direction for her anger, but it existed inside her like a firestorm fighting to get out. She would not let it. Not now. She turned to Nightwing who seemed to be fighting the same demons when Superman voice broke through.

"J'onn! Find me the closest hospital from my position and have them prepare for a meta human. Hurry J'onn. I need a location immediately. I've found Wally."

Before anyone on the Bioship could react, Batman spoke out.

"What's his condition?"

"Critical."

Saint Francis Memorial Hospital was overrun with people. Every condition from severe lacerations to life threatening injuries flooded the lobbies and waiting rooms. Local doctors and EMT's were called in from everywhere to assist, but when Superman demanded, not asked, but demanded care for a severely injured meta human, everyone realized who it was, the man who had just saved their city and their lives. Despite their suffering, some victims would just have to wait.

On top of the building near the helipad, Dr. Ryan Brady and his surgical team awaited the Man of Steels arrival. Seconds later Superman landed gently with the bloodied and battered Flash cradled in his arms. The rebar remained lodged in him. Superman being weary of removing it, concerned with what damage it might do, had only separated it from the building. They bypassed the gurney and Superman carried him directly into the awaiting surgical unit. He placed him down between two tables trying to avoid any further damage the protrusion could tear.

The steel shaft was lodged between Wally's last rib and angled down towards his abdomen. His uniform was soaked black, his blood loss immense. The surgical team frantically cut off the speedster uniform and began matching blood types and preparing for surgery.

"What have we got," Brady urgently yelled to his surgical chief.

"White male, mid-twenties. Collapsed lung, possible damage to spleen, liver, gall bladder, maybe kidneys. We won't know til we open him up."

"Superman we'll take it from here. We need you to step out know."

Superman acknowledged but briefly hesitated, attempting to ask the doctor a question as Brady shook his head. "It's bad. We'll do everything we can, you have my word."

Dr. Brady turned away and was assisted in putting on in his sterile surgical scrubs, as he began instructing his team on the next steps.

Wally's floated in and out of consciousness. His eyes fluttered open as the Doctor spoke to him.

"Son can you hear me? I'm Dr. Brady. You're in Saint Francis Memorial Hospital. You're badly injured. We are going to get the bar out of you now before you lose any more blood. I'm sorry, but you're going to feel this. The anesthesiologist is Dr. Ryan and she will have you under in a few moments, but we have to do this now. Do you understand what I'm telling you?"

Barely able to breathe let alone speak, Wally weakly nodded as fire erupted in his side and blackness overtook him.

Out on the roof Superman signaled the Dark Knight. "We're at Saint Francis Memorial on Hyde St. Someone needs to find Barry and Bart immediately" as Superman's voice became strained. "He might not have long."

Dick sat silently as the Bioship crossed the Nevada-California border. They were still at least 50 minutes out optimistically and across the state his best friend lay dying. The latest radio report had taken all the oxygen out of the cabin as Superman requested for the speedster's family to be notified. The helplessness of the situation made Nightwing nauseous. He looked over at Artemis and found her impossible to read. Her face showed no outward emotion, but Dick knew she had to be torn to pieces inside. Her reunification with Wally had remained extremely private, but everyone saw the change in their team leader that had not been present in years past. Happiness. They team sat helplessly as Megan forced her ship to impossible speeds towards the city.

After what in Artemis's mind seemed like hours, the ship landed on top of St Francis, and she and Nightwing leapt out before the landing gear had even touched down. Artemis frantically grabbed the closest hospital employee and demanded them to take her to where the injured speedster was being operated on. The terrified candy striper complied and Nightwing and Artemis followed her down the multitude of corridors until they came face to face with the weary form of Red Arrow. He was pale, eyes swollen. Bruises covered his face and forearms from the fierce battle they had all fought. Behind them the Flash held his young grandson in his arms as Bart sobbed. The look on Roy's face said it all.

An exhausted Dr. Brady stood behind Red Arrow, slumped down on a bench for a momentary reprieve before he would be called upon again for the next emergency surgery. Lights flickered as emergency generators quickly kicked in, the storm having taken much of the downtown power grid off line. All hospital generators were in full use as Pacific Gas and Electric desperately tried to get the grid back up.

The despondent hero tried to keep his composure. "He coded ten minutes ago. There was just too much damage. His healing factor never had a chance."

Artemis coldly looked at the seated surgeon and angrily advanced toward him. "I want to see him."

Roy quickly grabbed her hands before she could go any further. "No you don't. He wouldn't want you to remember him like this."

Artemis body shook as her hands balled into fists and she screamed. "I want to see him!"

The doctors and emergency staff stared in her direction as she finally exploded. Artemis grabbed the bow from her back and began swinging it wildly in anger. Striking the nurses' station, carts, trays, monitors. Anything she could reach.

"God Damnit! God Damnit! She screamed wildly as Nightwing and Red Arrow grabbed her from behind, locked their arms around her, and drug her out of the surgical wing before the overtaxed hospital security staff could be called.

The lights dimmed and finally went out as the wings emergency generators began to shut down.

A frustrated Dr. Brady instructed his surgical team to relocate to the next available surgical wing that still had power. Hospital staff and nurses quickly gathered their patients, charts, and IV's and made their way out of the powerless wing, leaving behind just two women at the nurse's desk.

Conner stood alone in the hallway as the ward cleared out.

"Is there someone coming up to…." he hesitated, unsure of what to say or how to phrase it "to take care of his body?"

"We are trying to contact someone, but we're not getting through. The phone system keeps crashing. Our entire staff is overwhelmed. Being the closest hospital to ground zero has every emergency and law enforcement agency dropping all their injured here. I hear they are tuning away everyone but the most severe cases at this point to other area hospitals, but even with that we are severely overcrowded."

Conner felt sympathy for the two women, but it was nothing compared to his grief and guilt. He and Wally had always been friends, but weren't close like the others. Wally, Dick, and Kaldur had risked their lives to rescue the clone even after he had attacked them. It had always remained unsaid, but barely a week went by that he wasn't thankful for their sacrifice. On several occasions he tried to thank the three men for his rescue, but his shyness and gruff personality made it difficult for him to share. Today was the culmination of that regret.

He could only imagine what Artemis was going through as he thought of his heartbreak over Megan. He may not have been happy seeing her every day after they were no longer a couple, but there was a certain comfort he felt that they were still friends and he would always be there to protect her. Artemis would not have that luxury anymore and it hurt his heart.

"I'm going to stay here until they come ok? I don't want him left alone."

They both appreciatively smiled at the hero. "Thank you. We've never been through anything like this before. It's all just….. so overwhelming."

Conner smiled slightly inside hearing her choice of words, reminding of days long past. No matter how long it took, he would guard Wally until they came for him. He owed him that.

Roy and Dick sat with Artemis in the waiting room as they attempted to calm her down She didn't cry, she was not overcome with grief, she was angry. Furious. She wanted to hurt someone.

"I'm gonna find you guys some water or whatever's cold," Roy told them as he left the room for his search. Dick sat next to his friend holding her hand, both silent as Artemis just stared at the ground. Losing someone was nothing new to her. Growing up the way she did, friends were few and far between. On more than once occasion her mother would have to explain to her why her friends would disappear when the Shadows had become unhappy and a family was punished for an operative's error. Later her heart would grow cold as she was forced to do unthinkable things in the name of her father, when she became the reason for someone's disappearance.

This was different and she knew it. There was no hiding from it now. There was no anger to shield herself with, no person to direct it towards. This would permanent; this pain would be part of her now. She had no intention of breaking in front of her friends and teammates, her grieving would be in private.

She glanced over at Nightwing as he stared off into the distance. Wally had been everything to her, but in reality she had only known him for a few years despite how intense and special those had been. But Dick had grown up with the speedster. The life of a superhero's protégé while exciting, was also extremely lonely with no one your own age to share experiences, hopes, fears, and dreams with. That was one reason the two teens bonded immediately when they were introduced. Leading a double life was hard on the psyche, especially as young as they were, but they both made it through because of each other. Artemis had lost her love, but Dick had lost his brother.

Her mind drifted back in time as the redhead fell at her feet wearing nothing but a swim suit and sunblock. She remembered the arguments, the fights, which in reality were their personal forms of flirting that neither would acknowledge until later. She remembered when he began to creep into her heart when he defended her, believed in her. Their first kiss looking over the Earth from the observation deck of the Watchtower. She doubted anyone's first kiss could have topped that. She refused to let her mind stray to the painful times, she would only remember the smiles and the happiness. Nothing else mattered. Finally one more emotion crept in she had not expected. Pride. As bad as she hurt, she was incredibly proud of him. Proud to have been with someone like him. When it had come down to making a choice, he never hesitated. All life was precious to him, and if had the power to save it, that would always be his first and only choice. The world would be a much worse place if it wasn't for him.

After minutes of silence she finally spoke.

"Do you think he ever considered letting Kyle get the bomb out of the city?"

"No," Dick replied in a depressed tone. "Knowing Wally, he probably had already done the math in his head, doing some weird equation that no one would ever understand."

Nightwing straightened up in the chair and turned his body towards the archer.

"Did I ever tell you about the first time he and I went on patrol together?"

"No," she replied.

A warm smile crossed his face as he began his story.

"This is one of my favorite stories about him. He had spent the night at the manor, and Batman was gone. We were watching, I think it was Bourne Identity or something like that, so anyway I got all keyed up after watching it and decided that we should hit the streets, just the two of us. No mentors. Bruce forbid me going out solo, but I convinced Wally we could do it. There was always action in Gotham, and Wally really didn't get to see much in Central. So I hopped on his back and boom we downtown in like two minutes. We waited and waited and there was absolutely nothing going on. Wally got worried that Batman watching us, you know how paranoid he could get. We both took like six sodas each and we got so bored we were just slamming them. Well it didn't take long for Wally's stomach to start growling so he took off to find some convenience store for his typical junk food fix. He tells me to stay put, not so much because he thinks I won't be safe, but he's doesn't want me jumping out at him. He hated it when I would pull the Ninja thing, used to scare the shit out of him."

"So I'm up on this building alone. An alarm goes off about two blocks away and Wally is nowhere to be found. I figure he'll hear it too, but I don't want to risk some guy getting away, so I get to the ground and there's the guy, all decked in black and a ski mask, you know the typical burglary getup. He seemed huge at the time, but remember I'm only 11. I need to brag for a second, but I kicked this guy's ass. I'm freaking 11 years old and I used everything Bruce taught me. The guy was down and out in about 50 seconds. I was pumped. I couldn't believe what I'd done by myself. No Dark Knight or nothing. I knew Wally was going to be pissed that he missed out."

Artemis remained locked into Nightwing as he continued his story.

"So I'm tying this guy up and about to make an anonymous call to the Gotham PD, when his partner, I guessed the getaway driver, comes out of nowhere and pulls a gun on me from down the alleyway. I never saw him; all I heard was the gunshot. Right then and there I knew I was dead. I had broken Batman's unbreakable rule and all I could hear was him lecturing me over and over again about it in my head. Isn't that a weird last thought? I don't really remember what I did, I think I just closed my eyes waiting for it to end and the next thing I know I am flying across the ally into the wall pretty hard. I look up and Wally is on top of me. The bullet grazed his arm, but he saved me. A thirteen year old kid risked his life for me. We went straight back home, Alfred patched him up, promising us he wouldn't tell Bruce, but when he got back that night he already knew."

"Long story short, Wally took the blame for everything. Said it was all his idea and he made me do it. He told Bruce that I had saved him. Bruce called Barry and I didn't see Wally again for like six months. He was grounded forever and I knew he got his ass chewed by Barry and his Mom and Dad. I don't think Batman believed a word he said, but I think Bruce really respected him for it. When he finally got out and we hooked up again, I knew he was going to be so pissed at me, but when we got together all he could talk about was how awesome that night was and we had to do it again. He saved my life, took the fall, and was ready to do it again. That's Wally in a nutshell, that's just who is."

Dicked swallowed hard, "Was."

The story made Artemis smile. She could not stop grinning, thinking of the young awkward red head just starting out in the hero business, back when it was all new and exciting. When it was all fun. Compared to the life she led at 13, Wally's seemed like a dream, but she was happy for him. He deserved it.

Artemis cleared her throat as the words became tough to say. "He was terrified Dick, I could hear it. It shouldn't have been him. He'd left that life behind."

"No he didn't," Dick replied. "He never did. He might have taken a break for a while, but he was never going to leave it. It wasn't about the rush or the thrill anymore. It was about duty and legacy. He always wanted to make Barry proud, and I know he hoped you would be too. He hid behind the class clown act, but when it came down to it, he was business. He just liked to have fun on the way."

"I don't know how I'm going to do this without him."

"I know me too," he replied quietly.

Surgical wing C remained without power and Connor was getting antsy. He hadn't eaten in hours, and aside from the two women at the nurses' station, not a soul had been by in an hours. He had no intention of leaving until Wally had been properly taken care off, but he also needed some fuel fast.

"Excuse me Miss. Where are the closest vending machines with power, I need to run just for a second. Will you guys….you know…watch over him for just a few?"

They nurses nodded and gave Connor directions as he hurriedly made his way.

Inside the abandoned operating room, the body of Wally West lay on the surgical table covered with a white sheet stained in blood. The room was cold and dark, only illuminated by the emergency lights that had slowly gone dim as their charge exhausted.

A dark figure stood solemnly over the fallen hero. All was silent with the exception of muffled voices out in the hallway. The figure respectively pulled down the sheet exposing the speedster's face. His eyes were closed, his expression peaceful. The glowing eyes shimmering off the golden helmet contemplating the figure before him.

Regardless of the new host that assisted the Lord of Order, Kent Nelson's spirit still returned from time to time to instruct and advise the new host, but mostly it was to visit his old companion of 60 odd years.

As quiet as the room was, inside the helmet the silence was deafening until Kent Nelson spoke.

'It's a shame. This kid had so much left to give to this world, so much more to share. He and others like them are always gone way too soon. Wouldn't you agree?"

Naboo remained silent.

"I can't even begin to count how many lives he saved. Yours too you know? If Klarion had been successful in acquiring the helmet, he would have destroyed you, or worse forced you to join him. Not a very pleasant thought is it?"

The Lord of Order remained mute.

The spirit of Kent Nelson continued to talk nonchalantly, ignoring the silent treatment he was currently receiving.

"So the kid saves millions of lives, on top of what he and his young friends have been doing for years. He puts on the helmet, risking his life and his future knowing that he might have to remain your human host for the rest of his life, just to ensure yours and his teammate's safety. And he has dedicated his life to using his abilities to help others instead of himself. There seems to be a shortage of people like him these days. Having folks like this around protecting humanity sure can make life easier for a sorcerer supreme who has his fair share of obligations just protecting the astral plane.

"Naboo you can remain silent all you want, but you and I both know this is wrong. This is one of the good ones. He's needed and you know it. I think we owe him, just this once. Don't you?"

Dr. Fate remained silent as he stared down at the body of Wally West. Despite his history with him, Kent Nelson could still find Naboo unreadable. Nelson had made his case for his friend. As he realized the argument was lost, The Lord of Order placed his hands on the fallen hero's form.

"This is not his fate," and the room exploded into light.


	15. The Heart Matters

_Author's Note: Well I thank you all every chapter, so I'm not about to stop now. Dark Heart, J9162, Feel all the Feels, random monkey, andy-ninja girl, pottyandweezel, and geist1321, thank you guys and everyone else who read the story and followed along. I went back and read The Long Road to Redemption(shameless plug) and was a little disappointed how similar the two stories were. I can do better, and have one more story already started. Guess what. It's a mystery/adventure with just the originals. Not the angst ridden soap opera I have been doing for months. I will give you guys the title in the epilogue if you'd like to follow. I have a short prologue written, but probably won't start it seriously until the YJ season ends. I will be looking for your stories and following your favorites and I sincerely appreciate all your great reviews and kind words. PS loved the Dick Wally fight. I have faith the ending is going to be awesome. See you guys._

The Heart Matters

Dick Grayson had final reached his breaking point and rose from the chair. The numbness he had been harboring had slowly begun to change to grief and he needed to be alone. He squeezed Artemis's hand in support and understanding and left the room. The West's would arrive within hours and he was going to need to be strong for them, but for now he needed privacy.

Finally alone, she had no idea what to do with herself. Her mind ran through a thousand scenarios at once. There were so many loose ends. Very rarely are people prepared to deal with the aftermath of losing someone. First and foremost were Wally's parents. At one point the archer had been extremely close to Mary West. She loved Artemis and treated her like family. Mary was extremely pleased with the positive influence she had had on her son. For her they were the perfect match, the clowning and reckless red head and the serious and strategic blonde who challenged each other each and every day. They had been the textbook definition of opposites attracting and that attraction had turned to love the whole family felt. If Mary West could have a daughter in law, she had hoped it would be someone like her. Despite their youth, deep in Mary's heart she hoped it would be Artemis.

Unfortunately Mary had also been present during the worst parts as well. She undoubtedly had to console and deal with the pain Artemis had inflicted on her child. The West's were very reasonable people, and on many occasions had sided with the archer when Wally had been in the wrong, but this could not have been one of those times. She had broken Wally's heart just to cause him pain, and then continued to do so again and again. She had no idea if his parents were privy to their reconciliation, but Wally kept few secrets from his mom. She wanted to be there to comfort the West's but was conflicted if she should be there for them or respectively avoid them and let them grieve in peace.

Artemis grew fidgety and got to her feet. She began to wander aimlessly down the dark corridors as she finally heard gentle sobbing off the distance. So much pain and suffering had been brought to this city in the last few hours; she couldn't help but be empathetic to anyone who was dealing with loss like hers.

As she rounded the hallway she saw Bart Allen off in the distance, on the floor knees to his chest, head buried in his arms.

"Bart?"

The weary young speedster looked up and quickly wiped his eyes trying to hide what he felt was weakness.

She sat down next to him and put her arm around his shoulders, bringing him into her. Sometimes when she looked at the young man, she was reminded so much of his older cousin. His eyes were painful for her to look into; the same emerald color that belonged to someone else. Their mannerisms were so similar in so many ways; sometimes it was hard to believe they weren't brothers. Artemis was not a touchy feely person outside of her relationship with Wally, but something about the young speedster made her want to cradle him, protect him, like she wished she could have done for her Wally had fate allowed.

"It's my fault. Everything changed when I came back. You two were supposed to be together forever. If I had just stayed where I was from, none of this would've have happened."

He buried his head back into his arms as his body shook, trying to stifle his tears.

"Bart you didn't do this, Vandal Savage did, and I swear on my life that I will make him pay. I will make him wish his immortality would finally come to an end. Every time I kill him, I want to be the next person he sees before I do it again. I want him to get tired of living." she said with acid in her voice.

"But you and I both know that isn't what Wally would want don't we. Savage will rot in a prison for the rest of yours and my lifetimes, and if he gets out, well that's when we will make him wish he hadn't ok? You and me. Deal?"

Bart looked up her and silently nodded in agreement as the lights flickered back to life, the city grid finally back up.

The two sat there for a few more minutes. "Come on let's get up. Your Grandparents and Aunt and Uncle will be here soon. You and I should be there to greet them."

"Give me a couple of minutes please Artemis; I don't want them to see me like this."

She hugged him and let him have his privacy as she walked away.

At the nurses' station, monitors came back to life. The ward was empty, but it would it soon be full again as doctors and staff would migrate back needing space and facilities to treat the severely injured piling up downstairs.

Tracy Ladner sat alone at the station, logging back into the hospital's many databases and medical programs, when on the vitals' monitor for Operating Room 4, an almost imperceptible ping came across the screen. She glanced down confusedly assured it was exhaustion playing tricks on her mind when she saw it again. This was not an EKG signal, she knew for a fact that she had personally removed all the sensors from the patient's body, but maybe the pulse monitor that would normally be placed on a patient's finger might have come in contact with a hot electrical source now that the power was back on, thus giving off a false signal. She quietly entered the unit and stood in shock dropping her clipboard.

Artemis stood at the sink in the bathroom and splashed cold water over her face. She was exhausted, but the day was far from over, The West's and Allen's would arrive at some point, and Batman and the League would need a debriefing sooner than later. She felt bile coming from her stomach when she thought about the need to plan a memorial for the speedster, one for team and one for the city. It was too much to deal with at the moment. One step at a time she kept reciting in her head. She left the bathroom and began making her way again to Bart.

The crackling intercom momentarily broke her train of thought "Code Blue! Code Blue! Crash Team to OR4!"

Several announcements had been emanating from the intercom system now that power had finally been restored and she paid no heed to any of them, but when Conner frantically ran down the hall running past her, screeching to a stop and doubling back, Artemis knew instinctively something had happened.

Without a word she sprinted back to the surgical wing to see the surgical team with crash cart running into the room the speedster lay. She stood at the doorway in absolute shock as she saw the body of her boyfriend seizing and shaking violently on the operating table.

Dr. Brady was no first year intern, he was a seasoned professional, but even he had to fight the urge to stand in awe as he realized what was happening. He had called it himself. Logged the time of death, done one final reading as all brain and heart activity ceased, but right in front of him, his patient was alive. Alive and suffocating.

"Get a trache kit, his lungs have collapsed. I don't know how this kid got a second chance, but were not losing him again."

"Doctor his vitals are off the charts. He's going into cardiac arrest." a nurse urgently shared

"We have to get his heart rate down. I need enough sedative to knock down a rhino and I need 4 bags of O negative. Find those other two Flashes, they shared his blood type and we are going to need more of it. Lots more."

Artemis pushed and shoved her way into the room and stood above her lover's head.

"Get her out of out of here!" Brady screamed when Artemis gave him the coldest most deathly dangerous look he had ever seen.

"I…WILL….CUT…YOUR…THROAT."

Brady was scared, but refused to back down until he saw the effect her presence had on his patient. His violent struggling had eased somewhat, and his wild eyes, that moments had been full of fear and confusion locked on to her, and his vitals began settle. His organs were starving from lack of oxygen when a slit was cut into Wally's throat and a tube was extended inside him as they finally placed the trache. This was a violent procedure, but he never flinched, his focus was entirely on her now.

"Get her scrubbed and sterile!' the doctor yelled at his staff. "Don't get in our way," he ordered to his new blonde assistant. Prepare to open him back up. We need to check for an additional bleeding, we need to make sure all the sutures held, and look for anything we might have missed the first time. Let's go people."

As the rich oxygen hit his blood stream, the lights around him began to fade. Wally could not process thoughts. All he had was random sensations of light and sound. Pain had become a constant partner of this new life, but it no longer mattered to him. He felt something in his hand, something warm and familiar. That was his anchor. He held on to that sensation for dear life until the hand slipped away and the last thing he felt was the sensation of falling.

Hours later Artemis and a small gathering of heroes waited in the recovery room for the doctor to leave his patient and update his status. Unspokenly they all held their breath, fighting through their fear and apprehension, all but Artemis. She carried a serene almost Zen like look. She had no doubt he would be fine. Whatever brought him back did not let him get this far, just to take it all back.

As the doctor spoke, relief and exhaustion filled the room. Wally's parents broke down. Iris West held her brother and sister in law as tear of joy overcame them. Bart ran to the archer and locked on tight. She smiled as she realized that Wally West hugs weren't just the best, they were genetic. It seemed that speed wasn't the only thing that family shared. Hal Jordan held Barry in his arms as several other heroes camr over to show their support.

Dr. Brady kept trying to communicate that Wally was not out of the woods yet, but his prognosis was positive. He would be placed in a medical coma for the next few days or so until his vital signs could stabilize, but Artemis knew. She just knew, and that was enough.

She left briefly to get to the Bioship and retrieve some personal items. She had no intention of leaving his side. As she exited the ship carrying her bag, off in the distance she saw him, the moonlight glimmering off his golden helmet. She did not approach him, but she knew instantly what part Dr. Fate had played. She silently mouthed the words "Thank You," and he nodded ever so slightly before disappearing in the shadows. The city may not have changed this day, but her world had. The thought alone brought a beautiful smile to her face. She started to believe that Bart had been right all along.

The constant beep of the heartbeat monitor was the first thing Wally heard as he slowly began to wake up.

His mouth was dry and his arms were strapped down as the silhouettes in the bright room began to take form.

He struggled to speak as his fist word escaped his mouth.

"Mom," he gently smiled. Mary West began to sob in happiness as she alternated between hugging her husband and her sister in law. She knelt down next to her son as the tears flowed freely from her face. "Oh my baby," she cried as she cradled her sons face as if he were still a child. No matter how old her son was, she would always be her baby.

Iris West joined her in hugs and in tears as Rudy West held his hand.

In the distance the familiar figure of Dr. Ryan Brady came into focus. He knew days from now his memories of names and faces would be washed away, but his responsibility to this young man went beyond his Hippocratic oath. The red head before him had made the ultimate sacrifice to save him and the millions of others who called that city home. There was no medical or rational explanation why the young man in front of him still drew breath, but he was alive for a reason and Dr. Brady intended to keep him that way.

The doctor was overcome by emotion as he saw his patient reunited with his family, considering the unbelievable loss he had felt at the thought of losing his wife and children had the Flash not saved everything and everyone he held dear.

"Wally I don't know if you remember me, but I'm Dr. Brady. I'm the surgeon who worked on you. I want you to know what's happened."

Wally listened as the Doctor began describing the trauma his body had been through. The speedster began to lose focus as the surgeon voice started to become white noise. He attempted to follow the doctor's story, but his eyes searched the room for something else, or someone. He felt pangs of disappointment fill his heart when suddenly a waterfall of long blond hair washed of his face and an upside down angel appeared over his head.

"Boo," Artemis gently whispered.

In a raspy voice Wally replied "Boo yourself."

His eyes watered at the sight of her smile and she gently wiped his tears away. The look she shared with him finally put him at peace. The sacrifices he made completely worth it.

"Ahem," the doctor calmly cleared his voice, redirecting his attention.

"Wallace," his mother corrected him kindly and the redhead regained his focus.

Artemis shyly pulled up a chair and held Wally's hand, never intending to let go again.

"As I was saying, your body has suffered major trauma. We removed your spleen, gall bladder, and part of your intestines. Two of your ribs were replaced with a metal alloy and you have some scarring on your lung that we will have to do another procedure on sometime later."

"Wally your blood loss was immeasurable. There are still several tests we still have to perform, but preliminary results appear to indicate you no longer carry the meta gene. You have lost your meta human abilities."

"My speed?" Wally choked sadly.

The doctor nodded.

Artemis gently took his face and directed his eyes to hers.

"It's ok babe, do you hear me? It's going to be ok." She kissed his lips and ran her fingers through his hair. "We're going to get through this together ok babe?"

Wally swallowed hard, never before considering he would ever lose his abilities. He knew he was incredibly lucky to be alive, but at the moment he was having a hard time processing all of it.

Artemis kept her boyfriend close to her. She knew this was going to be difficult on him, but she would be with him every step of the way.

From the far side of the room a light emerald glow illuminated the room announcing the presence of a Green Lantern. Kyle Rayner to be specific.

Wally extended his hand as Kyle grasped it. The intense feeling the two men shared was powerful. They both were back up's. Reluctant part time heroes. One who sought the mantle, one who was judged to be worthy. They both had made it through hell, but the scarring trauma would be with them for years, if not forever. That would always be their bond.

"Well if isn't Kelly Slater, the world champion surfer." Kyle grinned.

"How lucky am I to have Bob the Builder drop by to check on me. I hear you construct a mean wall." Wally bantered back.

"Yes we can," he laughed. "Seriously how are you feeling Wally?"

"I'm doing good. Don't really remember a lot of what happened after I left you guys. From what people told me it's probably best. How about you?"

"Me? I'm fine. Concussions is gone, girlfriend took care of the rest."

"That sounds nice. You know where I can me one of those? Does she have any friends?"

Artemis gently pulled his ear lobe, "Careful there Wallace. I'd hate for you to bust a stitch."

The speedster gently reached up and drew her down to him and kissed her.

"I'd say you doing fine in that department," Kyle observed.

He looked at the beautiful blond holding his hand. "I am now. So are you full time now?"

"Hell no, back to being a part timer and loving it. I'm here when the Guardians or the League needs me, but I'm in no hurry to recreate three weeks ago. I have a lot of work backed up, and the simple life on an illustrator suits me just fine. What about you?"

"School. I dropped out this semester for medical reasons, go figure, so I was lucky enough not to lose my scholarship, but I need to finish up.

"Or get your Master's," Artemis interrupted.

"Or that," he smiled back at her.

"Well I know visiting hours are short, but as soon as you feel up to it, why don't both of come to Seattle. Alexandra and I will show the sites. It'll be fun."

"I'd like that."

The two men shook hands one more time. "Kyle. Thanks for everything. I'd never want to do that again in a million years, but I'm glad you were there with me."

"We made a pretty good team didn't we?" Lantern asked as he began to leave.

"Yeah we did. Take care of yourself Kyle."

"Get better Wally, and call me when you're up to it."

Off in the distance, Dick stood quietly, watching two heroes speaking and suddenly feeling out of place. Behind him the brunette magician approached unnoticed.

"Jealous much?" she asked Nightwing

"Z," he nodded, acknowledging her presence and ignoring her antagonism.

The two stood silently as they watched the Green Lantern and Flash reminisce about the nightmare of a few weeks ago. This would be an experience, a bond only the two of them and Roy would ever understand. The ultimate nightmare experience, the true definition of sacrifice. Nightwing wished he could have been there for his friend, and if he was completely honest with himself, he was sadly envious of the friendship that appeared before him.

"I bet he wouldn't sleep with his best friend's ex-girlfriend" Zatanna elbowed into Nightwing's ribs playfully.

The past few days had finally brought Nightwing to his breaking point. Between his constant silent vigil over his friend and taking over operations for the Titans in Artemis absence, he had finally found himself at wits end.

"For the love of God, will you please give that shit a rest. You have no f****** idea what….."

Before he could finish his angry retort he found himself silenced by the lips and arms of the sorceress. The kiss lingered and felt so right. "Relax boy wonder, I was just playing. When exactly did you lose your sense of humor?" she grinned and then got momentarily serious. "You need to go over to him, then you are taking me to dinner. Don't make me use a spell on you."

Their brief heated exchange did not go unnoticed as he looked up and Wally was staring at him, surprised to see him off in shadows. He motioned for him to come to his bed. Artemis did not want to leave his side, but knew the two men needed privacy.

As Dick stood by Wally's bed. Wally once again motioned for him to come closer. Dick hesitated but finally leaned down to be greeted by a Wally's arm hugging him.

"You are and will always be my best friend. You know that right."

Dick gently hugged back. Me to Wally. I'm just sorry…"

"Stop. Nothing to be sorry for, I mean it this time. It's water under the bridge." Wally got a sour look on his face. "You know what, I don't think I like that metaphor anymore. Too close to home."

Both men smiled as the speedster continued. "You know the whole time all of the Savage stuff was going down, in my mind I kept wishing you were there with me. I knew you would know what to do. That you would figure a way out of this. That's what leaders do, and you're one of the good ones. I realized then and there if I made it through all of this stuff I would let you know how important you were to me. I'm sorry for all the bad blood, I was really immature, well more immature than usual. I know you don't like the mushy stuff so let's never speak of this again ok? I have a rep as a ladies man to maintain," he said with a grin.

"You rep is always safe with me, and I mean this in the most hetero way possible, so don't get an ideas, but I love you Wally, and lets never speak of this again. You're not the only with a rep. If Z heard this I'm going to catch shit for months."

Wally grasped his friends hand tightly. "Me too Rob."

Dick was his surname. Nightwing was his designation, but Rob was his brother and his best friend. For the first time in months Dick felt the weight of guilt lifted off his shoulders and it felt great.

Artemis walked into the command center of Mt. Justice seeing Nightwing sitting behind the desk, going over the Intel reports she was usually responsible for. Com chatter had died down significantly with the apprehension of Vandal Savage. It would always be their job to remain vigilant, but at the moment all was quiet and both teams were thankful for the reprieve no matter how long it might last.

"I guess you know why I'm here."

Dick nodded.

"I'm out. He's out. End of story," as she handed him their communicators and access keys.

Artemis expected some resistance from Nightwing, but got none.

"Surprised it took you this long he grinned as he handed the items back."

"Souvenirs," he smiled. "Plus those access keys are not just for team members, they are for family. You guys are our family. You can quit the Titans, but you can't quit us. End of story," he winked. "Take care of my friend ok. Tell him I asked about and hope he feels better."

"Tell him yourself. You and Z are coming out west in two weeks. She has a show in San Fran and after that you guys are staying for the weekend. Didn't you get the memo?"

"Nope," he said with a sly smile on his face. "She didn't share that with me."

"You know how magicians, always wanting to keep things close to the vest. Actually it was Wally's idea, but he thought it would sound better if she thought of it. Didn't want to get to bromatic."

"Sounds like I better request some time off, good thing I'm the boss now. Let's see whose weekend I can screw up."

"What comes around goes around," she chuckled.

"Amen sister. Where are we going to stay? I hear Wally's place is pretty small."

"We'll be in our new place by then, it has an extra bedroom."

"Ours?" he asked curiously.

"Yes. Ours. I enrolled in Stanford for next semester. Seems like there was another Wayne Foundation grant floating around out there."

She walked over to the brunette and kissed his cheek." Thanks."

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"God you and Wally are the worst liars. You are a good friend Dick Grayson, we almost screwed that up, but you had the strength to do the right thing and I will never forget it."

"Me either. So you and Wally huh?"

"We're not dating you know?"

"No," he smiled. "Horrible idea."

Wally stretched out carefully on his couch as Artemis packed up his apartment.

"Babe let me help please. You're going to screw this up."

"Wally just lay down. I know you're worried I am going to mess up your immaculate organization, but sooner or later we're going to have to pack up this mess."

"It's a complicated system. Why are you in such a hurry anyway? The new place isn't even ready for another week and a half. Why don't we just put the packing on hold and pop in a movie or maybe something even more fun."

"Well considering half your body is held together to by staples and duct tape, I don't think we will be doing that certain activity any time soon."

"Spoilsport," he winced as he tried to sit up.

"That's what you get. No tell me what boxes these things go in. I don't want your junk mixed up with my junk."

Wally let out a snort as Artemis playfully frowned at him. "Clean it up West or the next time you get any will be after graduation, whose I haven't decided yet."

Wally feigned a pretend pout as the blond knelt down and kissed him.

She just looked at him and knew this was right. Artemis no longer looked back at the hurt and the pain they had suffered through years ago, she just looked forward now. This was where she should have always been all along,who she should have always been with. God it was frustrating when he was always right. Her early days may have been dark, but her life right now was blinding. She liked that. She liked all the possibilities that lay in front of her. In front of them. She didn't care if he didn't have his speed anymore or if he ever played hero again. He had saved millions of people and done his bit for king and country, but more importantly he had saved her, saved her from herself. At the end of the day Wally would always be the red headed, freckled science geek that fell at her feet years ago and fell for her shortly after. She would always be the opinionated hard ass cynic who would never let him get with anything and would love him forever. Thank you Kent Nelson she smiled in her head. Only one thing left to do she giggled.

"Wally? What's in this black box that locked?"

"Top secret babe. Eyes only"

"Unless you want me to carve yours out and use them, I suggest you tell me."

"I thought I did already." He stood carefully and took the box form her, placed his thumb print on the scanner, and the box opened exposing the Flash ring inside.

She took the ring from inside the box and examined it. "Oh yeah, I guess you did."

The ring was not only a symbol, but a reminder. A reminder of who he was and what he and his kind stood for. The ring was very special to him and a frown came across his face when Artemis dropped it on the floor.

"Whoops!" she said in her best sexy baby doll voice. They both stood there looking at it, trying to see who would pick it up. Artemis never moved.

"Fine," he growled. 'Let the guy with the stiches get it." He gingerly kneeled down and retrieved the ring that had rolled under his couch. His body was slowly healing, but bending and kneeling really fired his nerves up. He grabbed the ring and stayed down for a moment letting the pain subside before trying to get back up.

"Let me see it again. I won't drop it this time I promise."

Wally started to go frustrated as he handed her the ring back. Her beautiful face burst into the nicest smile he thought when she put the ring on her finger.

"I will Wally and I do"

"Will what?" he stated confused and hurting.

"Marry you."

"Excuse me?"

"I'll marry you. You were proposing right? After all you are on your knees, and three years ago you told me you wanted to. No take backs Mr. West."

Wally smiled and stood up taking the gorgeous archer in his arms. "I thought you didn't believe in marriage. 'Marriage was a joke' I believe your exact words were."

"I lied. You lied about believing in magic, I lied about believing in marriage. Wer'e even now ok? Now shut up and kiss me Baywatch before I change my mind?"

"Change your mind? This was your ide…."

Their lips met once again. One of a thousand kisses and a thousand more to come, but this one they both would remember forever. As important as the one on the watchtower was, this one trumped it. That one may have started things, but this one sealed the deal.

"I guess were still not dating huh?" he asked.

"Nope it's a horrible idea." She replied.

"You know I'm going to make you say it right?"

"Nope. Can't do it. Sorry."

"No worries Arty. We can just call the whole thing off."

"Fine!" she playfully growled. She cleared her voice and lovingly looked him in the eyes. "I love you Wally West. I always have even though I was to chicken shit to show it all the time. You are the best, and I mean the best thing that has ever happened to me and I will love you till my dying days."

"I know," he replied in his best Han Solo imitation.

"You're so dead," she laughed as she lunged for him, He playfully ducked and immediately regretted it. She eased him back on the couch. "Your turn. I know you have been wanting to say it since our first trip to San Francisco."

"Oh I have huh? You really think so?"

"Spill it West."

"I love you Artemis Crock. I can't wait to get rid of that goofy last name of yours, and … and I will never understand why such a beautiful amazing person would ever want to end up with a person like me, but someone once told me not to screw up a good thing, and I'm not going to. Not again."

"Good. Now for the second time, Shut up and kiss me."


	16. Epilogue

Epilogue.

"Wally! Where in the hell are my wine glasses? Dick and Z are going to be here in an hour and I want this place to look nice."

Wally sat on the couch immersed in an intense Call of Duty game. "You put them in the top of the cabinet by the fridge. All the way in the back."

"Damnit," she cursed. "Did you return the step ladder to the landlord already?"

"Yeah babe. Yesterday. Do you want me to see if she is home?"

"No. I 'll figure a way to get them." she groaned.

"If you can beat the crap out of supervillians, I have faith you can reach high shelves," he laughed.

"You still remember that line about not getting any right? Someone's starting to feel frisky again and I would hate it for them if they were expecting some while being a smartass."

Wally gulped and playfully answered. "Yes mam."

Artemis got the barstool and two milk crates to boost her to the highest shelf of the cabinet. She had ninja like skills, but for some reason this balancing out was not working out as she hoped. She finally got to the right height and reached inside.

"Got em." she announced just as the bar stool cracked and she began to fall. For someone unknown reason all she cared about was the wine glasses her mother had given her as she flinched preparing for the hard painful landing.

She closed her eyes before she made contact, when a gust of air blew under her and she landed in the comfortable arms of her fiancé who seconds ago had been all the way across the room.

She opened her eyes as Wally grinned and gently carried her to the couch.

"Did you just?..." She asked astonished.

"Yep," he grinned as he placed her down gently.

"How long?" she excitedly asked.

"A few weeks. I didn't want to say anything until I knew it was going to stay. I meant to surprise you and take you for a run this weekend. We haven't been to the Bay in a while and I though a speed trip would be a great surprise, but I guess the cat is out of the bag."

She hugged he fiancé and her heart just swelled. "Oh my god Wally. This is great! I am so freaking happy. We need to celebrate!"

"How about some wine?" he asked.

"Screw the wine," she answered.

"We have an hour. You get the door and I'll close the shades. We're going to do this proper. Just so you know, someone's going to get punished for keeping secrets, but you will love every second of it."

"Dick and Zatanna will just have to wait."

_Author's Note. As always I am a sucker for a happy ending. Thanks again. The new story if you're interested is the "__The Path Not Taken__." It's a new genre for me and I hope you will follow it if you get the chance. I submitted it today. Like I said before, I probably won't update it for a while, but you never know when inspiration hits. Thanks guys._


	17. Epilogue II

_Authors Rant:__ Yes rant. I am beyond pissed, so many bad YJ feels going on right now. Cartoon Network screws us over, but thank god you can find the new episode on YouTube or iTunes. The episode has absolutely no Wally West, and you begin to realize he has done nothing in invasion, hardly been used at all. That sucks. Finally in a voice actor podcast which I listened to, not just took someone else's word, the voice actor who does Impulse says that after this season their done. Is he in the know? Who the hell knows? This is not Brandon's fault, but damn January? Really? Also I was really looking forward to taking a break from writing, but after all this I have so much pent up frustration, and this seems like a good way to use it, instead of taking it out on Geekwife and Geekkids. __A Path Not Taken__ is on hiatus. Damn Cartoon Network evidently controls my stories now too.  
_

_I have a 2 or 3 chapter story about the fallout of Invasion surrounding Dick and Wally called __They May Never Forgive Us__. It follows what the League and the Team does to the two of them once the dust settles. I haven't published it so if it sounds interesting to you at all, follow me as an author. After that a possible collaboration with another author from YJFF might happen. Sound pretty cool. Anyway this story could have been a one shot, but I thought I would throw this on to HOTM just for some good feels for spitfire fans, because we really haven't gotten them anywhere else this season. Hope you enjoy and R & R as always. Thanks._

Epilogue II

Wally West was a man of science. Strategy was never his forte. That's what Dick was for, and that's what made their team so special, all of the different talents and strong suites working together as one to form something special, something powerful. Flash, Red Arrow, and Green Lantern had all received their kudos for their success in San Francisco, but Wally was out of his element and he knew it. He formulated a plan that had little chance of success and just went with it. He got lucky. It reminded him a lot of his first experiment, the one that gave him his abilities. He had gone over the calculations for weeks without alerting his parents. He waited till they were gone to begin the process. He knew there were risks, but he believed in his research, he believed in his knowledge. He was young and invincible, but waking up in a hospital with his parent's beside themselves was not a variable he had even considered. He hated uncontrolled variables. He was about absolutes, and variables just complicated things. They were unstable, unpredictable, and dangerous.

He was worried about his latest experiment, the stakes were high but the risk would be worth it if he could just get past the uncontrolled variables, namely his wife.

He walked in the door of the apartment to find an exhausted Artemis West asleep on the kitchen table, laptop still bookmarked on the pages she was researching.

She was wearing a tank top and extremely short gym shorts and could not have looked any sexier if she tried. Graduation had been one of the most exciting and fulfilling times of their lives, but the next phase was challenging, at least to on of them. Wally had found employment weeks before their final exams. Three companies had been lined up for a shot at hiring the young scientist, and as thrilled as she had been for her husband, slight pangs of envy and sadness had pained her when she tried to enter the job market. The search, while very early on, had not gone well.

Wally quietly shut the door, put the package he had been carrying along with his back pack and the Chinese takeout he brought home for dinner on the counter and made his way over to his sleeping beauty.

"Morning beautiful," he said as he gently lifted her long hair and kissed her neck.

She didn't flinch or react other than a sweet moan and a smile. "Good evening my husband."

She sat up and wiped the sleep out of her eyes. "It's almost 6:00 where have you been?"

"I had to run a few errands on the way home, so I take it the job search isn't going too well huh?"

"You could say that."

"It's going to take time babe. We're in no rush. I know how stressful this can be, don't let it get to you."

"Come one Baywatch, let's be real. You had three companies fighting over you before they even handed you your diploma. Don't act like you know how tough it is."

"Artemis I had letters of recommendation from Bruce Wayne and Dr. Palmer, even if I deserved them or not. That helped open doors right away. You could get some too you know? We are associated with some pretty influential and powerful people. I bet Ollie could…"

"No Wally. I'm doing this on my own. I have always made it on my own and never taken handouts s before and I'm not starting now."

"Getting help is not getting a handout, but I know better than to argue with you when you are in a mood, so let's just drop it. Just remember one thing beautiful ok? We are a team. What I do, we do, and vice versa."

"Wally I hate not carrying my weight, I hate not contributing. Why in the hell did I ever think Asian studies were a good choice for a major?"

"Well," the speedster began, "Because it interested you. It's your heritage and it's important to you, and you are proud of it and who you are. I think you are just not targeting the right companies. After dinner you and I will sit down and start again, sometimes fresh eyes can make all the difference."

"Ok," she sighed. "Whatever you brought home smells great. Do I actually get any this time?" she smiled sarcastically.

"Maybe if you're good," he smiled.

"Oh I'm good. Very good," she purred as she put her arms around his waist and kissed him.

"So honey," she said doing her best 1950's wife impression, "How was your day?"

"Well I had a lot of things up in the air that finally got settled, so all in all I'd say it was pretty good."

"What did you do?"

"Well sit down and I'll tell you."

They both made their plates and sat across from each other at the dining room table and began eating.

"So I have been putting a lot of thought into the job search and I think you're going about it all wrong."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well ever place I've seen you apply are for jobs you'd hate. My dad always told me that the perfect job is the one you look forward to going to everyday. Someplace you enjoy and have fun at, and before you role your eyes at me, I find science fun. I'm a geek. Nuff said."

Artemis laughed, "You know me so well don't you Kid Employable?"

"That's a new one; Did you just make that one up? As a matter of fact Artemis I do know you so well. I know things about you that you don't even know?"

"Oh this should be good. Enlighten me my husband. Tell me what secrets I hide form myself."

"Well for starters you are always so aggressive, so dominating in almost everything we do, but I know deep down that you secretly enjoy it from time to time when I dominate you."

Wally tensed waiting for her reaction, when a blush and sexy smile came across the blonde archers face. That was all he needed to know that he was on the right path.

"Interesting theory there science boy, what else ya got?"

"Well I know you like kids a lot more than you let on. I see how much fun you have with the neighborhood kids when no one is looking. I think you are a natural with them I thought so all the way back to when the mystics took all the adults away, you were great with the little ones at school we kept rescuing. You kept them calm and made them feel safe. No one did nearly as good as you."

Artemis was genuinely touched by his comment. They had never really talked about that night but she never knew how proud and impressed the young speedster had been of her that day.

She just smiled as he continued.

"And for the last secret I know how much you like helping people. When we went down to the Boys and Girls club for our volunteer hours I saw the way you cared about the troubled ones. How much you wanted to draw them away from….." he gently took his wife's hands, "From the way you had to grow up. I know how important it is to you to save people from that. They really looked up to you, everyone noticed. I know you did too."

Once again her husband touched her heart, she always knew they were soul mates, but moments like this really hit the point home.

"So….anyway I got to thinking about what you's like to do, and what you skill sets are, and what your passion is. Now don't get mad ok, but I took some money out of savings, and kind of …rented some office space over in the South Bay area, right near the Boys and Girls club and 5 other school districts."

"You what?" she said angrily. That was the variable. Everything to this point had been so controlled, so steady , but Wally had introduced an unstable element to the experiment and was observing his hypothesis going south extremely fast.

"Wally that was our home fund. You can do shit like that without asking me. I don't care if it's all your money."

"Our money," he interrupted.

"Fine, whatever, our money, What the hell were you thinking? What do we need office space for? Are you building a lab? Are there any other secrets you aren't telling me?" She stood up from the table about to storm off when her husband quickly grabbed her hands and sped them off to the couch.

"Wally let go. I'm pissed and you know when I'm pissed I don't want you to grab me. Let go before I hurt something of yours."

Like so many other arguments in the past, Wally always had the answer to stop them dead. He kissed her. He lay on top of her and kissed her deeply, passionately. He smiled as another light moan reluctantly escaped her throat and her arms wrapped around his waist drawing him in to her.

"I hate it when you do this," she said breaking off the kiss. 'I hate it when you do this to me when were fighting."

"No you don't and were not fighting, anyway I'm sure Superman hates Kryptonite too, but you need to let me finish."

He sat up and a still angry but calm Artemis laid her head in his lap and looked up.

"The space isn't for me, it's for you. You're going to open a dojo."

"What?" she asked.

"A dojo or martial arts center. I don't know what you call it, but you are going to open it and teach kids and adults martial arts, self-defense, all those fighting styles I can't pronounce and don't understand."

Artemis was shocked. She was speechless. She sat up and just started open mouthed at the speedster.

He continued, "Babe," you are the biggest badass I know, and trust me I know the good ones. You taught the whole team stuff that even Canary didn't know. This space is located in a refurbished area around lots of schools and ..wait for it…the Boys and Girls Club. I kind left some fliers with my email address on them to see if there would be any interest in a place like this and my inbox was and is still flooded. I wouldn't have rented the space if it wasn't"

"You charge just enough that everyone can afford it, build your base and boom. You get to teach something you love and are extremely good at, you watch out for kids that are heading down a path they shouldn't, and you also get to sharpen your skills for your nightly activities."

"Oh I think my skills are pretty sharp already Romeo?"

"Not what I meant, see that box over there. It's for you, open it." Wally directed.

Artemis's brow furrowed as he walked from the coach and picked up the box. It was heavy. Something of decent weight was inside. She opened the end and a pair of combat boots fell out along with a green fabric that smoothly fell to the floor.

She picked them up and immediately recognized her old uniform. Her gaze locked on it and she stared motionless for seconds at it, remising of a past life.

"Wally I…"

He stood up and walked next to her holding the other end of the uniform. "I hated the Tigress duds, if you are going out at night; you need to be this person. This hero. This is who I fell in love with."

Artemis hesitated. "Wally I can't start this again, you and I both agreed we were leaving this behind. I'm not leaving you again."

Wally gently took his wife by the shoulders and held her, both eyes locking on the other. "You look me in the eyes right now and tell me you don't dream about this. Every time we see the team on TV you are mesmerized. You need to do this and I will not get in your way. You always feel you need to redeem yourself for your past, you don't, but you need to do what's in your heart, you're a hero, and a damn good one. I want you out there doing what you do best, but you have to do the job too. You need to pull your own weight. You open the center, you make it successful and you get to play hero. That's the deal. You've never failed at anything in your life Artemis, and you're going to love doing this. Rudy West says so."

Artemis closed her eyes as the burning and wetness began to form. "I don't deserve you. You are the sweetest most loving…."

A wet kiss interrupted her soliloquy.

"Babe, you deserve this and tons more that I will never be able to give you. Let me at least do this ok? I wake up every morning and look at you while you sleep and I could just do it for hours. You are a badass, beautiful, and amazing woman. I love you with every ounce of my being Artemis, I never want to imagine my life without you.

"You won't have to," she said wiping a tear away as her husky voice began to crack. "So when do we start this?"

"Yesterday," he smiled. "and no cheating. You don't hit the streets until you have some students. That's the deal."

"Ok," she smiled, her heart swelling with emotion for this man she couldn't love more if she tried. All those years of sadness and despair, all the painful years they spent apart during college, all of it had been worth it to end up here, with him.

"So what exactly will you be doing while I'm out protecting the streets of San Fran? Using that as an excuse to stay late at the labs and play Dexter?"

"Oh I have some ideas," as he hit the secret button on his ring and the crimson uniform shot into the air. With a sudden burst of spend and energy the suit formed around his body and he pulled back his cowl.

"There is no way in hell I'm staying home by myself." He brought his wife face to his and gently kissed her. "We are a team. You and I, in everything we do. That's the deal."

She smiled and kissed him back. "That's the deal," she grinned.

Her hands made their way to his shoulders as she began pulling down his uniform.

"So I secretly like to be dominated huh? Let's test that theory," as she began kissing down his neck, her tongue tickling a very sensitive spot causing goose bumps to form across the speedster's body.

A moan escaped his lips as he twisted his neck giving her more room to operate. "For science," he sighed as he realized sometimes variables are what make life worth living.


	18. Author's Final Note

_Author's Plea. Ok plea sounds pretty desperate, but I really appreciate that you guys read and perhaps liked my stuff, and I really value your opinions and reviews (good or bad), so I'd like to invite you to follow along with a new one. I had no intention of hopping back in, but CN screwed us all and I have some unspent anger I would like to turn into words. If you guys have written any stories lately or have come across something you particularly like, please forward it this way. I like reading new stuff almost as much as writing. I hope you all will follow along, and if not thanks again for reading Heart of the Matter. See ya._

_Oh Yeah. Almost forgot. The new story is called __They May Never Forgive Us._


End file.
